From November 22 to 23, 2022, Astana hosted a seminar on the topic “WTO negotiations on joint initiatives in the field of electronic commerce (JSI) and the importance of legal reform for Kazakhstan”, organized by the International Trade Center (ITC) and Trade Policy Development Center JSC QazTrade” with the assistance of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The event is part of the technical assistance to develop a new unified regulatory framework for electronic commerce of the Republic of Kazakhstan within the framework of the Ready4Trade Central Asia project funded by the European Union.
The Ready4Trade Central Asia project was launched in 2020 and aims to support the development of intra-regional and international trade in the five countries of Central Asia. Kazakhstan is one of the 5 beneficiaries of this project. The institutional partner of the project in Kazakhstan is QazTrade JSC.
As part of the work in the direction of e-commerce, UNCTAD experts prepared 3 reports. The first report provides an analysis of the current legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the field of e-commerce with a view to its compatibility with the WTO Consolidated Negotiating Text, which is part of the multilateral negotiations on e-commerce.
The second report, International, Regional and National Approaches to
E-Commerce, identifies international, regional and national approaches to the issues raised in the negotiating text of the Joint Statement Initiative (JSI) on e-commerce. The third Report on reforming the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the field of electronic commerce provides recommendations for amending the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The workshop reviewed the technical components of the third report, where participants had the opportunity to learn more about topics such as electronic transaction facilitation, trust and e-commerce, service provider responsibility, data localization, telecommunications and others. Together with international experts, the most pressing problematic issues for Kazakhstan were discussed.
Programme Manager, UNCTAD UN, Ms. Thamara Romero, said that good results had been achieved through the dialogue during the workshop. The reports prepared by UNCTAD aim to strengthen the position of Kazakhstan in the JSI negotiation process and serve as a valuable tool for the government to make informed decisions for its negotiating strategy. The active participation of representatives from public and private agencies during the two-days workshop showed an interest in finding the best way to address e-commerce issues through legal reform. UNCTAD looked forward to furthering productive joint work.
According to Professor Ian Walden, the workshop provided an excellent opportunity to learn about local issues, best international practices and exchange views on the best ways forward for Kazakhstan.
Representatives of state bodies and organizations, as well as business representatives who are members of the Working Group, created for the effective implementation of the project, attended the seminar. The working group provided its comments and suggestions on the reports.
The moderator of the seminar, Director of the International integration department of QazTrade JSC Ainur Amirbekova, noted that – “Kazakhstan, as an active participant in the multilateral trading system, always stands for progressive reforms within the WTO. Since the entry into force of the WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation in February 2017, our country has come a long way in terms of its implementation, seriously reworking the basis of the document, the legal and technical aspects of its implementation.”
Ainur Amirbekova expressed her desire for further cooperation, which would not only follow global trends in the field of e-commerce facilitation, but would also meet the specific needs of the Kazakhstani market.
