Bakytzhan Sagintayev: E-commerce in Kazakhstan developing faster than expected

ASTANA. KAZINFORM - E-commerce development in Kazakhstan is faster than expected, said Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan Bakytzhan Sagintayev, answering MPs' questions at a joint session of the Parliament chambers, Kazinform correspondent reports.

"Today we are discussing digitalization, shrinking the underground economy. According to various estimations, 28% of our country's economy is off the books. As a result of the transition to digitalization, to e-commerce, we will bring more and more companies out of the underground economy to the real sector," said Bakytzhan Sagintayev.

In addition, the head of the Government added that in Kazakhstan, e-commerce is developing faster than expected.

"For instance, we expected that within the framework of the Digital Kazakhstan Program, by 2022, we will have had 200,000 people working in e-commerce, according to forecasts. However, already today we have 40,000 people working in this area. In the near future, we will reach the mentioned figure of 200,000 workers. This suggests that more and more people will be involved in the real and open business. It goes without saying, all this will result in a situation where the budget formation balance that we now have will change," the Premier concluded.