QazTrade deepens cooperation with Russia in the field of export promotion, including through e-com channels

On 20th of December 2021, within the working visit of the Republic of Kazakhstan's Prime Minister Askar Mamin to the Russian Federation, QazTrade, Kazakhstan's export promotion agency, concluded Memorandums on cooperation with the Russian Export Center and the Russian marketplace OZON.

A Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation between QazTrade and the Russian Export Center was signed by QazTrade General Director Azamat Askaruly and Russian Export Center General Director Veronika Nikishina.

The document supports cooperation between the two organizations in the comprehensive development and promotion of non-commodity exports of Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation to the markets of third countries. The parties also agreed to search for potential counterparties on the internal markets and deepen cooperation in the border zones, including mutual attraction of investments in new projects. In addition, QazTrade and the Russian Export Center will cooperate in developing the e-commerce sector's ecosystem.

The Memorandum of Cooperation with the Russian marketplace OZON assists in bringing new Kazakhstan's exporters to the platform. From now on, Kazakhstan's entrepreneurs do not need to register a legal entity to trade in Russia. The company plans to strengthen its presence in Kazakhstan"s market and develop the required logistics infrastructure. To date, OZON intends to invest in creating a fulfilment centre (sorting centre and warehouse) in the city of Nur-Sultan; in the future company plans to expand the logistics network throughout the country.

In this regard, it is worth noting that one of the leading world trends in 2020-2021 was the development of electronic commerce channels.

Kazakhstan has also participated in global B2B trade by taking companies to the Alibaba.com international marketplace, where cumulative sales amount to over 125 million US dollars.

For reference: Russia retains the first place among the main trade partners of Kazakhstan, not only in the EAEU but also globally.

For 2016-2020 the share of Kazakhstan exports of the manufacturing industry amounted to 19.3% of the total turnover of the manufacturing industry.

The export of Kazakhstan's goods to Russia amounted to 4.9 billion US dollars, including the export of processed goods - 2.7 billion US dollars. Kazakhstan's export to Russia is concentrated in 10 industries. Base metals and metal ores accounted for about 32.9%.

The structure of supplies from Russia to Kazakhstan is dominated by machinery, equipment and vehicles, metals, chemical products, rubber, food products and others.

The main regions of Kazakhstan that export processed products to Russia are Karaganda, Pavlodar, Turkestan, East Kazakhstan region and Nur-Sultan and Almaty's cities. Exports from other regions amounted to less than 3.6% of the total export.