The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has held a meeting in Ashgabat dedicated to e-commerce opportunities for increasing the potential of small and medium-sized businesses in Turkmenistan, ORIENT reports.
The seminar was held within the framework of the program "Consultations for Small businesses" with the support of the European Union and brought together more than fifty representatives of the private sector of the country, which emphasized the relevance of the topic.
"On the part of entrepreneurs, we see a sincere interest in digitalization of their business. And we hope that this workshop will be especially useful for food and consumer goods producers, as well as distribution companies and market place owners, " Laura Berzina, personal assistant to the EU Ambassador to Turkmenistan, said at the opening of the meeting.
Emil Stefanov, project coordinator with international retail experts of the EBRD, was a trainer at the seminar. The participants of the meeting shared their experience, discussed the current challenges for small and medium-sized businesses, and considered the key advantages of e-commerce for different types of businesses.
It was noted at the meeting that the number of e-commerce projects in Turkmenistan has increased several times since 2020. Worldwide, online sales grew by 44% in 2021. It is predicted that by 2023, 22% of all purchases will be electronic.
The international expert spoke about the opportunities that the EBRD provides to small and medium-sized enterprises in the field of e-commerce. These include support for expanding local and export sales channels, optimizing the distribution channel by eliminating intermediaries, improving product recognition in the supply chain, etc.
ORIENT news
Photo: Editorial photo
