Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov took part in the opening ceremony of the VII China International Import Expo in Shanghai, El.kz citesprimeminister.kz.
The purpose of the annual multi-sectoral event is to strengthen economic integration at the international level.Participation in the exhibition creates new opportunities for expanding trade and economic relations with foreign partners and introducing national products to international markets.
The opening ceremony of the international exhibition was also attended by Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Li Qiang, Prime Ministers of Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim, Uzbekistan Abdulla Aripov, Mongolia Luvsannamsrai OYUN-ERDENE, Serbia Miloš Vučević.
Last year, Kazakhstan accounted for more than half of China's trade turnover with Central Asian countries.
Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov in his speech noted the importance of strengthening cooperation between states in the development of barrier-free trade, e-commerce, transport and logistics, the introduction of advanced AI technologies.
It is promising to strengthen co-operation in the creation of a pilot zone "Silk Road E-Commerce". Kazakhstan's pavilions are already successfully operating on the largest trading platforms Alibaba and JD. com, work is underway to open a pavilion on the Douyin platform, to build bonded warehouses and integrated warehousing infrastructure in Kazakhstan to simplify logistics through digital trade channels. Kazakhstan covers more than 80% of land transport from China to Europe. Major infrastructure projects such as the Western Europe-Western China international transit road corridor, a logistics centre in the port of Lianyungang, a cargo terminal in the dry port of Xi'an, a third railway checkpoint on the border with China, etc., aimed at improving the system of transcontinental economic corridors, increasing trade turnover and improving the welfare of the countries' populations, are being implemented.
In the field of digitalisation, the Republic of Kazakhstan ranks 24th on the e-government development index, 10th on online services, and 6th on the government technology maturity index according to the World Bank rating. The exchange of experience on the application of artificial intelligence can become a driving force for economic progress, Olzhas Bektenov emphasised.
Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Li Qiang and heads of delegations of the countries participating in the international exhibition got acquainted with the products presented at the National Pavilion of Kazakhstan "New Era, Common Future", focused on the theme of digitalisation. The country's achievements, including the development of electronic and financial services, cross-border trade, and investment attraction, were presented by Minister of Trade and Integration Arman Shakkaliyev, representatives of National Information Technologies JSC, Kazakh Invest, IFCA, QazTrade, and Kaspi Bank. In addition, startups of Kazakhstani developers were demonstrated, such as: Squares is a service that allows you to quickly find and book a location anywhere in the world; Alaqan AI is a new solution in the field of biometric identification of individuals by the pattern of veins in the palm of the hand; Cerebra AI is the development of diagnostic software based on artificial intelligence to detect stroke and others.
In the commercial pavilion of Kazakhstan, online sales of domestic products became an innovation this year. On the area of 260 m2 the exhibition of goods of about 50 Kazakhstani producers was organised: meat, dairy, oil and fat, grain products, confectionery, juices and drinks, honey, textiles and many others. Streaming through the TikTok platform has been launched, which allows not only visitors to the stand, but also viewers around the world to familiarise themselves with the range of goods and purchase them in real time. Only during the first hours of the exhibition online Kazakhstani goods were sold for about $22 thousand. Also, the pavilion was doubled in size this year, more than 80% of the exhibitors are SMEs. More than 300 thousand Chinese professional buyers visit the international exhibition every year, which creates conditions for increasing exports to China.