E-commerce park proposed to be opened in Kyrgyzstan

14:49, 03 октября 2024, Bishkek - 24.kg news agency , Baktygul OSMONALIEVA

An e-commerce park is proposed to be established and opened in Kyrgyzstan. The Ministry of Economy and Commerce has developed and submitted a corresponding draft law for public discussion.

The document is aimed at implementing the state’s task of creating an ecosystem for the development of e-commerce, creating favorable conditions for the development of entrepreneurs engaged in e-commerce, realizing the potential of the republic as a center of logistics and digital trade serving the region and other countries.

The e-commerce park is a zone and a special commerce regime for legal entities and individuals, who are its residents and carry out their activities in accordance with the proposed law.

It is assumed that the park zone consists of one or more land plots, on which the infrastructure facilities necessary for the implementation of its activities are located.

The activities of the e-commerce park include the sale of goods in electronic form and the provision of services in electronic form. Residents of the e-commerce park pay taxes in accordance with the tax legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic.

In the event when residents are e-commerce operators in accordance with the Customs Code of the EAEU, the specifics of paying customs duties and fees are determined by the law of the Eurasian Economic Union and the national legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic in the field of customs regulation.

«The practice of creating special parks by states demonstrates successful examples of the functioning of such e-commerce parks on the world stage. The experience of the United Arab Emirates — Dubai Commerce City is a single e-commerce center for new and existing enterprises. The investment size is about $ 1 billion. This complex is positioned as a global center with comprehensive solutions for e-commerce. There are tax incentives for park residents, such as exemption from corporate and income taxes,» the ministry explained.

Based on international experience, the fundamental requirement for all countries is the presence of a specialized e-commerce park regime in a separate territory created to perform the functions of a logistics center, provide related services for exporters in a «single window» format and have tax exemptions for resident companies.

The availability of convenient transport and logistics infrastructure, expansion of digital economy opportunities, creation of special industrial production zones, preferential tax regime and other advantages contribute to the growth of the number of e-commerce parks in the world. The Ministry of Economy believes that the advantageous strategic location of Kyrgyzstan provides significant potential to become a transit zone for commercial transportation and trade between China, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Kazakhstan, South Asia and the Middle East.