Participation of the Kazakh delegation in the 2nd Global Digital Trade Fair
With the assistance of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the China, the Kazakh delegation took part in the 2nd Global Digital Trade Fair (GDTF), which was held from 23 to 27 November in Hangzhou, the administrative centre of Zhejiang Province, in eastern China.
The event was organised by the Ministry of Commerce of the PRC and the Government of Zhejiang Province. The Kazakhstani delegation included representatives of the Ministry of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the PRC and the Association «Digital Kazakhstan».
Background: The 1st GDTF was held in December 2022 in Hangzhou, the e-commerce centre of China. At that time, more than 800 industry enterprises from more than 50 countries participated in the event with 315 digital exhibits. A total of 89 important projects in the areas of «Internet Plus», «New Materials», «Life and Health» were agreed upon during the exhibition. The total investment agreements amounted to about 110 billion yuan.
The official opening of the 2nd GDTF took place on 23 November, and was opened by Han Zheng, Vice-Chairman of the People's Republic of China, who read out a message from President Xi Jinping to the exhibitors.
More than 60 countries, international organisations, chambers of commerce and associations, and more than 800 enterprises participated in the Digital Trade Expo. Finland and South Africa received the status of countries of honour.
The Expo focuses on topics such as digital trade rules, regulations, governance and standards, and has included forums, industry meetings and specialised seminars.
For the first time, GDTF hosted a Round Table between representatives of government agencies of China and Central Asian countries at the level of Directors/Deputy Directors of Digital Trade Facilitation Departments.
During the roundtable, the parties discussed and exchanged experience in the development of digital trade. The Ministry of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan supported this format of meetings proposed by the Chinese side, and expressed confidence that it will become a mechanism for practical implementation of initiatives and tasks set by the leadership of ministries, governments and heads of state.
It was also proposed by the representatives of MTI RK to start discussing practical steps to implement the proposal of the President of Kazakhstan to introduce a unified electronic trading platform in the format of«C5+China»; to work out the opening of a unified pavilion of Central Asian countries on major Chinese marketplaces; to inform the Chinese side about the work carried out in Kazakhstan on the development of warehouse infrastructure of electronic commerce, in order to place electronic commerce goods going from CA countries to China and in the reverse direction, in these warehouses in Kazakhstan.
Association «Digital Kazakhstan» within the framework of the Round Table proposed to work on the issue of digitisation of e-commerce goods that have passed customs clearance, which will simplify procedures for cross-border e-commerce.
As a result of the Round Table, the representatives of governmental bodies of the «CA + China» countries approved the Consensus on further co-operation in the field of digital trade development.
The Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in China organised meetings of the Kazakh delegation with representatives of the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China and «Alibaba» Marketplace. During the negotiations, agreements were reached on further cooperation to promote cross-border e-commerce and exchange of experience in the development of digital e-commerce.
During the meeting of the Kazakh delegation with the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China, the issue of training domestic exporters in business skills on Chinese marketplaces was discussed, for which the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China was invited to explore the possibility of organising relevant courses, as well as to consider the prospect of training within the framework of the Pilot Zone of e-commerce «Silk Road» in the city of Shanghai.
During the meeting with representatives of the marketplace «Alibaba» discussed issues of cooperation on the introduction of Kazakh producers on the platform «Alibaba», cooperation in the field of advanced training of Kazakh exporters, increasing the volume of quality Kazakh products sold on the marketplace and the visit of the delegation of «Alibaba» in Kazakhstan. As part of the meeting, the delegation visited one of the major Chinese logistics companies «Cainiao Network Technology», engaged in the delivery of e-commerce goods.