Central Asian countries consider creation of single e-commerce platform

Bishkek, May 16, 2022 / Kabar /. Deputy Minister of Economy and Commerce of Kyrgyzstan Iskender Asylkulov held bilateral meetings with Vice Minister of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan Asel Zhanasova, Deputy Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan Badreddin Abidov, Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Tajikistan Abdurakhmon Abdurakhmonzoda, as well as head of the International Trade Department for Eastern Europe and Central Asia Elena Butrimova. The press service of the Ministry of Economy of the Kyrgyz Republic said that the meetings were held in Nur-Sultan as part of a regional seminar - a meeting on trade facilitation in Central Asia "From national road maps to regional reforms." During the meeting, the prospects for mutual cooperation between the countries of Central Asia, increasing mutual trade turnover, developing joint solutions to simplify trade and other administrative formalities at the borders with subsequent deepening of intra-regional and international trade were discussed. One of the key topics of the meeting was the proposal of the Kazakh side on the need to combine joint efforts to bring the countries of the region to the global e-commerce platforms AMAZON, e-Bay, Ali-BABA, Ali-Express, as well as to create a single regional project "Central Asian AMAZON". In this regard, the parties expressed their readiness to consider the concept of creating a single e-commerce platform for the countries of Central Asia. Also at the meeting, issues of joint entry of products of the Central Asian countries to the market of the European Union were discussed. In addition, within the framework of a regional seminar - a meeting on trade facilitation in Central Asia, Asylkulov took part in a briefing with the participation of Kazakhstani media, where he outlined common problems in removing obstacles to trade in the region and developing the main directions of reforms in the field of trade facilitation, which requires bilateral and regional coordination.