Digital Service - The Times Of Central Asia

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Digital Technologies

Kazakhstan Launches New Online Marketplace

A new domestic online marketplace, Teez, has commenced operations in Karaganda, the central city of Kazakhstan’s Karaganda region. The platform, offering next-day delivery, has opened pick-up points in 24 cities nationwide. On November 29, Kazakhstan’s Minister of Trade and Integration, Arman Shakkaliyev, visited the marketplace's main warehouse. Teez co-founder Linar Khusnullin informed the minister that the platform currently operates 40 pick-up points and plans to expand this network to 127. The marketplace offers 50,000 product types, and its customer application has already been downloaded by 170,000 users. The company’s warehouse spans 25,000 square meters, but by 2030, it aims to expand to a 120,000-square-meter facility. Teez aspires to become Kazakhstan’s leading e-commerce platform. Shakkaliyev highlighted the rapid growth of e-commerce in Kazakhstan, noting a 20% increase in electronic trade volume from January to October 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. He emphasized that Karaganda, with its central location and developed infrastructure, has the potential to become a vital trade and logistics hub not just for Kazakhstan but for the entire Central Asian region. The Times of Central Asia reported that in 2023, the volume of e-commerce in Kazakhstan exceeded 2.2 trillion KZT ($4.8 billion), accounting for 13% of all retail trade, a 0.5% increase from the previous year. The country aims to raise its share of e-commerce to 20% by 2030.

Finance

PayPal Set for Integration in Uzbekistan Pending Central Bank Talks

PayPal, Alipay, UniPay, Apple Pay, and Google Pay can be integrated into Uzbekistan. By the end of this year, the Central Bank of Uzbekistan will negotiate with these international online payment companies and take measures to connect them to payment systems and banking services in Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan is the only country in Central Asia not connected to PayPal. Uzbeks who need PayPal use detours—they register through other countries, such as Kazakhstan. However, this is inconvenient and requires using the system's limited capabilities. Also, some people use this online payment system to use other toll-free numbers on the internet, even though it is unsafe. In 2021, PayPal announced that it has no plans to enter the Uzbekistan market. Independent programmers and freelancers in Uzbekistan use electronic platforms to sell their software and products to foreign customers. However, payments can only be made through the PayPal payment system on some specialized platforms, particularly Upwork, Fiverr, Envato, Storyblocks, and similar token sale systems.

Digital Technologies

Start of Robot Deliveries in Almaty

Almaty is now using Yandex Qazaqstan robots for home deliveries of orders from restaurants and cafes via its Yandex Go service. Equipped with sensors, including lidar and cameras, which enable them to recognize objects and avoid obstacles and pedestrians, as well as a neural network system capable of recognizing traffic lights and road signs, the robots move independently around the city. With a capacity of 60 liters, each robot's cargo compartment can accommodate, for example, several pizzas and drinks, accessed by customers via the Yandex Go app. During the first phase, the robots will operate within one city district but in time, travel further afield and expand connections between new cafes and restaurants. Welcoming the initiative, Zhanabek Olzhas Nurzhanuly, head of Almaty's digitalization department, said the use of the robots could help make the city greener and more convenient for residents. In addition to making deliveries, robots have also appeared in Yandex Maps, where they can replace the usual navigation cursor via a simple app. update. Delivery robots are actively used in several countries. For example, Starship Technologies' robots have already made over 5 million deliveries in Estonia, the UK, and U.S. In the latter, in partnership with Grubhub, they mainly serve university campuses, and in Europe, robots deliver food and goods via apps such as Bolt Food,

Higher Education

inDrive Poised to Open University in Kazakhstan and Environmental Project in Almaty

At a meeting on September 5 between Kazakhstan's Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov and Arsen Tomsky, Founder and CEO of inDrive, a California-based global transport and urban services platform, a proposal was mooted to open an "inVision U University" in Kazakhstan, providing training for 400 qualified specialists in IT, education, science, and art. The Prime Minister also pledged support for the company's plans to implement several environmental initiatives to improve air quality in megacities; the first of which will be implemented in Almaty. Last year, in collaboration with Astana Hub and regional IT hubs, inDrive launched "Beginit", a free international social leadership program across six regions in Kazakhstan to enable 10th-grade students to implement social projects from concept to realization. Founded in 2013 in Yakutia, Russia, and incorporated in the U.S. in 2018, inDrive is now available in 749 cities in 46 countries. In 2021, its market value was estimated at $1.2 billion. In 2022, the company pulled out of Russia, and relocated to Almaty, Kazakhstan. In 2022 and again in 2023, inDrive was the second most downloaded ride-hailing app worldwide based on Google Play and App Store data. In addition to rides, inDrive offers a growing list of urban services, including intercity and freight transportation, handyman calls and courier delivery. In December 2023, Kazakh media reported that Arsen Tomsky had obtained Kazakhstani citizenship.