Over the past decade, global e-commerce has been expanding at an average rate of 20% a year as brick-and-mortar shops have languished. By 2024, global retail e-commerce sales were estimated to total up to $6 trillion worldwide, having a higher value than the GDP of either Germany or Japan.
E-commerce in Central Asia is starting to serve as a tool to: (1) find global consumers for “made-in-Central-Asia” products, (2) integrate and upgrade traditional supply chains, and (3) achieve inclusive growth and poverty reduction by creating accessible jobs for vulnerable groups such as women, youth, and persons with disabilities. This is because e-commerce overrides the region’s landlocked geography and engages its young, tech-savvy labor force.
This is especially important for Tajikistan, which has the youngest and fastest growing population in the region. On December 24, 2022, the country adopted the Law “On Electronic Commerce”. The Law seeks to protect the rights and legitimate interests of citizens and organizations engaged in e-commerce and ensures the free operation of e-commerce in the country.
On March 1, 2024, the conference “Elevating Global Access Through E-Commerce in Tajikistan” in Dushanbe will bring together leading e-commerce stakeholders from Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and global peers, including firms and policymakers, international e-commerce companies and traders. The event will initiate knowledge and resource exchange between SMEs in Tajikistan and the global e-commerce ecosystem as well as facilitate policy dialogues to build up the enablers of e-commerce including digital connectivity, logistic connectivity, digital skills, payment systems, and regulatory frameworks.
This conference represents the first concrete step in establishing productive relationships between Tajikistan and global resources, incubating enabling conditions and policy follow-ups, and unlocking investment opportunities.
The Conference is organized by the World Bank Elevating Global Access Through E-Commerce (EGATE) team with support from the UK International Development, FCDO, in coordination with the Tajikistan Government and international and local organizations including IFC, USAID, ITC, Interdepartmental Committee on Economic Programming, Aga Khan Foundation, Civil Internet Policy Initiative, National Association of Small and Medium Businesses of Tajikistan, Association of E-commerce Participants of Tajikistan, Association of Microfinance Organizations of Tajikistan.
Contacts: Chiyu Niu, cniu@worldbank.org, Yaroslav Eferin, yeferin@worldbank.org.