Today, the United States in partnership with the Ministry of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and the International Trade Center’s (ITС), announced the launch of the Central Asia eBay Hub (beta version) for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to promote their products beyond domestic markets.
The initiative will be implemented by the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Future Growth Initiative, Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Trade and Integration, and the ITС EU-funded project “Ready4Trade Central Asia”.
“The Ministry actively supports the development of electronic commerce within the country as well as cross-border digital trade,” says Assel Zhanasova, Vice Minister of Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Trade and Integration. “We believe the Central Asia eBay hub will help SMEs sell their products globally without any barriers. Our goal is to provide access and equal opportunities to local companies to sell their goods and services on global platforms in order to increase the country’s export potential.”
USAID is supporting the digital transformation of small-and-medium-sized businesses throughout the region, to help these businesses sell online locally, regionally, and internationally. Through the Central Asia eBay Hub, entrepreneurs across Central Asia, many of them women, will be able to reach new customers around the world.
In addition to e-commerce training provided by USAID and ITC in the region, select SMEs will benefit from tailored one-on-one support to create seller accounts on eBay that are focused on selling internationally. Additional resources will also be engaged to ensure that SMEs can take full advantage of the opportunities resulting from increased visibility through the Central Asia eBay hub. Training for the first cohort of SMEs starts on May 21, 2021.
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USAID is the world's premier international development agency and a catalytic actor driving development results. For more information, visit the USAID Central Asia website: https://www.usaid.gov/central-asia-regional and Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/USAIDCentralAsia. To know more about the U.S. Mission’s work in Kazakhstan, visit: https://kz.usembassy.gov/ and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/usembassy.nursultan.
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