NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan recently simplified export procedures to boost e-commerce and Kazakhstan’s national mail service, Kazpost, has also launched services to facilitate more e-commerce, said Kazpost Board Chairman Saken Sarsenov in a May 30 interview with Primeminister.kz.
Saken Sarsenov. Photo credit: primeminister.kz.
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a law in April simplifying the process of international customs documents, which will give 1,700 Kazakh e-commerce entrepreneurs the opportunity to sell their goods abroad more easily.
“Until April, Kazakhstan’s online stores could not simply send their goods to a buyer in another country. To do this, it was necessary to issue a customs declaration and pay a fee to customs authorities for each package. Now, as part of your customs declaration, you can use postal documents issued by Kazpost free of charge,” said Sarsenov.
The changes expected to help develop the country’s e-commerce market, which is growing approximately 35 to 40 percent annually.
“The e-commerce market in Kazakhstan is worth approximately 300 billion tenge (US$786.8 million). According to our forecasts, it will grow to two trillion tenge (US$5.2 billion) in the next five years,” said Sarsenov.
To further boost e-commerce, the national company recently launched Kazpost Store where online store owners can calculate delivery costs, generate address labels and track packages. Kazpost also updated its information technology infrastructure and opened three service centres, four e-commerce centres for entrepreneurs and several branches with franchise partners.
“In 2017, there were 3,500 (Kazpost) branches. By the end of 2019, there will be 4,000 Kazpost branches, some of which will be franchises. In the next five years, we plan to increase the number of our branches to 5,000. Most of our branches will be replaced by our franchise partners, which will allow us to reduce our costs and for entrepreneurs to develop new areas in business,” said Sarsenov.
The delivery time of Kazpost packages in Kazakhstan was reduced from 16 days in 2017 to six days this year after route optimisation and digitisation. The delivery time through the express mail service is within a day.
“This summer, the (regular) delivery time of packages in Kazakhstan will be reduced to, on average, three days,” said Sarsenov.
Kazpost also plans to open digital offices where customers may self-serve with automatic machines, and a universal agent, where people in the country’s rural areas may receive the services of medical organisations, academic institutions and employment centres remotely. The company will also offer financial services, such as Salem Online that allows card-to-card transfers, Salem Mobile that allows payment via QR codes and services that allow websites to identify and accept bank card payments to all individuals and legal entities. For example, PayPost allows online store owners to accept payments from all banks.
