The Central Asia
Gateway, an online trade information hub, was named the best in the world.
Launched in May of this year, the portal has already recorded 195,000 users. Currently,
the unified digital platform covers 280 trade flows in Central Asia. The
portal’s development is part of the Ready4Trade Central Asia project, funded by
the European Union. It is noteworthy that this virtual portal, which combines
data from national websites, was created to facilitate intra-regional trade. It
provides business owners with information about cross-border trade
requirements, taking into account the specific characteristics of their
products. They can also learn about the rules and procedures for import,
export, and transit in Central Asian countries.
“The Central Asia
Gateway initiative has been launched, combining five information portals of
Central Asian countries into a unified platform. For example, exports of
Kazakhstan’s flour are imports for Uzbekistan. Comprehensive step-by-step
guidelines are provided for both export and import procedures. It is worth
noting that, within the World Trade Organization agreement, substantial efforts
are being made in all Central Asian states in terms of transparency and
accessibility of trade information,” said Nurlan Kulbatyrov, Deputy Director
General of the QazTrade Center for Trade Policy Development.
There are plans to
expand the functionality of the unified platform aimed at streamlining trade
procedures in Central Asian countries, with a specific focus on creating a
single electronic database for commodity producers. This will further
facilitate trade and investment growth. Overall, according to experts, over the
past five years, intraregional trade turnover among Central Asian countries has
increased by 80 percent, exceeding $10 billion.
