The modern realities of international trade are such that it is impossible to successfully develop your business and promote goods in foreign markets without constantly deepening theoretical knowledge of the rules of international trade and their practical application.
According to the Ainur Amirbekova, PhD, project coordinator and International Integration Department Director, QazTrade company: “It is especially important for beginners and practicing Kazakhstani exporters to improve their knowledge and their skills in the context of the ongoing global geopolitical crisis and in the context of mutual sanctions of world leading economic powers, as well as the disruption of the supply chain associated with this”.
For these purposes, as well as to cover more representatives of the business community, and in general to stimulate the population to engage in export activities, QazTrade and the International Trade Center continued to conduct practical training courses for entrepreneurs in Astana and Taraz on May 4-5 within the framework of the Ready4Trade-Central Asia project funded by the European Union. At the same time, in Taraz, the event was also timed to coincide with the largest international fashion week in Central Asia “ASPARA FASHION WEEK”.
During the training in Astana and Taraz, entrepreneurs, as well as trade specialists, got acquainted in detail with the fundamental rules of international trade and the peculiarities of exporting Kazakhstani products to the EU, due to the fact that about 30% of Kazakhstan’s foreign trade falls on the EU countries. In this context, the ongoing regional courses are a unique opportunity to obtain information on the various nuances of export activities and international quality and compliance requirements.
It should be noted that conducting training in Taraz is especially useful for border entrepreneurs from the Zhambyl region due to the status and significant trade potential of this region. It is noteworthy that the target audience in Taraz was mainly designers and artisans, while in Astana it was specialists in the field of international trade and other entrepreneurs.
Moreover, during these events, the Kazakhstan Trade Facilitation Portal (https://kazakhstan.tradeportal.org/) was presented, which launched in July last year and is a remarkable information tool, where anyone without any authorization can freely get acquainted with the step-by-step description of export/import and transit procedures for priority goods for Kazakhstani business in the context of Kazakhstan’s trade with the EAEU and third countries.
Similar useful events were held in Taraz in October 2022, in Astana – in July, August 2022 and in January-February 2023. While on a similar project specialists of QazTrade and ITC visited the towns of Kordai and Merke for the purpose of detailed documentation of cross-border trade procedures into the Kazakhstan Trade Facilitation Portal.
In general, in the period of 2022-2023, the training covered over 600 exporters from 15 cities of Kazakhstan and involved 5 professional instructors who have been trained to conduct such the trainings.
At the end of the trainings, participants are tested and themselves analyze the errors. As a result of testing, each participant receives a certificate of course completion.
In addition to regional seminars, courses on the rules of trade can also be taken online on the QazTrade Academy educational portal at https://www.qaztradeacademy.kz/course/info.php?id=1910