Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, within the framework of the Consultative Meetings of the Heads of States of Central Asia, regularly draws attention to the development of trade and economic relations, which are a key driver of regional cooperation and integration.

During his speech at the fifth anniversary Consultative Meeting held in Dushanbe on 14-15 September 2023, the Head of our state initiated the adoption of a comprehensive regional Program envisaging the formation of sustainable trade and logistics chains in the region, the opening and expansion of cross-border trade and cooperation centers, harmonization of legislation and elimination of barriers to mutual trade, creation of unified electronic platforms for customs administration, sanitary and phytosanitary control, certification of the origin of goods, as well as the launch of a regional e-commerce platform.

To implement these initiatives, the Leader of Uzbekistan proposed launching a mechanism for regular meetings of ministers responsible for foreign trade activities.

A special place in the comprehensive regional Program proposed for adoption is given to the development of electronic commerce.

It must be said that in recent years, e-commerce has changed traditional ways of trade around the world, making online shopping accessible, convenient and safe, promoting entrepreneurship, providing a level playing field for companies.

Thus, according to the research agency Global Data, over the past 10 years the global e-commerce market has grown 5 times and in 2022 reached a volume of more than US$6 trillion. More than 2 billion people are involved in e-commerce worldwide. Global e-commerce is expected to reach US$27.1 trillion by the end of 2027, according to Global Data.

Alibaba estimates that its e-commerce platform has created more than 30 million jobs in China. Amazon tripled the number of grocery pickup locations in the United States and saw a 200% increase in online grocery sales.

E-commerce has become a unique tool that contributes to the economic development of countries. In developed countries, up to 5% of GDP is generated by B2B and B2C (business-to-consumer) e-commerce.

At the same time, Central Asia, due to its important geopolitical location between Asia, Europe and the Middle East, is increasingly seen as a market with high growth potential for e-commerce.

According to analysts, regional retail turnover in 2022 reached US$60 billion, of which e-commerce accounts for more than 15%.

Uzbekistan, in turn, is the fastest growing e-commerce market that has huge potential for expansion. According to expert forecasts, the cumulative average annual growth rate of this sector in 2023-2027 will be more than 40%.

According to expert forecasts, revenue in the e-commerce market is expected to reach US$1.6 billion by the end of 2023. The number of active online users in the country currently amounts to more than 10 million people.

At the same time, the annual revenue growth rate will be 14%, which will lead to a market volume of US$2.6 billion by 2027. The number of users in the e-commerce market by this period will be about 16 million people.

It is noted that such accelerated growth can be achieved by strengthening key factors that were previously underdeveloped, such as the Internet (in 6 years the number of Internet users increased 3 times and exceeded 31 million people in 2022), its speed and accessibility, smartphone penetration and the improvement of mobile banking.

The predominant young population (48% of the younger generation aged 15 to 45 years) with an average age of 28 years is a decisive factor for the further development of e-commerce.

To support e-commerce participants, Uzbekistan has introduced special tax incentives, for example, levying a tax of only 2% on online income, compared to a 4% rate for traditional trading. Large e-commerce companies, such as Uzum market, Wildberries, ZoodMall, OLX and others, are actively operating in the country, creating a competitive environment.

In this context, the creation of a unified regional e-commerce platform will contribute to the expansion of multi-channel sales and will give a powerful impetus to the development of online shopping in the region.

Active cooperation between the countries of Central Asia in this direction will generally stimulate business growth, create new jobs, increase company income, introduce advanced technologies, strengthen trade, economic and investment cooperation, and also contribute to the overall economic development of the region as a whole.

Shavkat Alimbekov, leading researcher at the International Institute of Central Asia.