The first international e-commerce Forum was held in Kazakhstan

Today, on September 8, the first e-commerce forum "E-commerce Forum" was held in the capital on the site of the Astana International Financial Center with the support of the Ministry of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan and BTS Education.

As noted by the organizers, the purpose of the forum is aimed at bringing together startups, entrepreneurs, universities and technology companies to jointly find ways to improve the process of transformation of Kazakhstani companies into digital companies, as well as creating a new comfortable space for the annual exchange of best practices in the field of e-commerce.

In his welcoming speech, Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan Serik Zhumangarin noted that due to its unique geographical location, Kazakhstan has the opportunity to play a key role in the global turnover of the e–commerce market, becoming a reliable transit hub.

The forum was attended by representatives of leading domestic and international marketplaces, financial and IT sectors, entrepreneurs of SMEs.

In order to reach more representatives of SMEs, an online broadcast of the event was also held.

Topical issues of online commerce were discussed during the forum. Thus, during the first panel session, moderated by Vice-Minister of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan Assel Zhanasova, the trends of the e-commerce market were discussed. The Vice Minister told how in 2021 the department worked on standardization of QR codes so that customers could pay for purchases through single terminals that will work with all Kazakhstani banks.

"It doesn't matter whose client you are - Halyk Bank, Kaspi, Jusan. There is a QR - any bank should read each other. There is no need to have 10 POS terminals, there is no need for businesses to pay for each terminal, let there be one terminal that can work with all market participants. We should strive for this," the Vice Minister said.

The speakers of the session were also Mastercard CEO in Central Asia Rafal Trapka, Aliexpress Business Development Director Sergey Lebedev, and Arbuz KZ Executive Director Ruslan Pogorelov.

During the second panel session, moderated by Azamat Askaruly, CEO of QazTrade JSC, issues of leadership and promotion of marketplaces were discussed.

At the session, Glovo's Commercial Director in Central Asia Tigran Manukyan, Jumysbur product owner Alexander Kim, Ozon Marketplace CEO Molder Ryskalieva, leading eBay Central Asia hub consultant Fabian Stashelin spoke about the achievements and future plans of the companies.

A case session on consumer protection and the e-tutynushy platform was also held, the speakers of which were Denis Stepantsev and Kulparash Shakirova.

In addition, during the panel session, where the moderator was the CEO of BTS Education Dastan Aspan, together with the speakers, the head of the Department of Analysis and Regulation of payment systems of the National Bank of Kazakhstan Raushan Kaynarbayeva, the head of the ForteMarket marketplace Dmitry Komissar and the head of the Social Wallet project Timur Shalekenov discussed the development of payment systems in small and medium-sized businesses.

The speakers of the last panel session were entrepreneur, blogger Dinara Satzhan, content Director of Aitube Sandugash Rakhimzhanova, entrepreneur, blogger Shahman Aikerim, Marketing Director of Jusan store Alexander Degtyarev, Chief Business Development Specialist of Evido.one Adilkhan Yesymkhanov and CMO Sagi LTD Asemgul Tuyakpaeva.

During the session, the speakers talked about the ways and principles of promotion and sale in social networks.

At the end of the forum, a solemn ceremony was held, the results of the e-commerce school project were summed up, the best entrepreneur of the prize fund of 1 million tenge was awarded, and incentive prizes from BTS Education were awarded.