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The Transit Potential of Russia and Development of the E-commerce Market to be Discussed at SPIEF

The Transit Potential of Russia and Development of the E-commerce Market to be Discussed at SPIEF

At the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, a session will be held called ‘Who will Provide Asia–Russia–Europe Logistics for E-commerce?’ dedicated to the development of the country's transit potential and the e-commerce market. The session will be moderated by Andrey Sharonov, President, Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO. Holger Winklbauer, CEO, International Post Corporation, and Nikolay Podguzov, CEO, FSUE Russian Post, will take part in the discussion.

In 2018, global e-commerce sales exceeded USD 2.8 trillion, which is equal to the total GDP of the 100 poorest countries. It is forecasted that in 2019, 1.9 billion people will make at least 1 online purchase in more than 24 million online stores, and a total of 28 billion parcels will be delivered. With these increasing volumes, it is becoming ever more important to provide high-quality and prompt delivery services.

Russia occupies a strategically significant geographical position on the China–Europe–China transit route. The development of the country's transit potential will also help support and increase exports of domestic goods to international markets.

The session participants will discuss how Russian shipping companies plan to compete for the e-commerce transit market, the key issues that need to be addressed in order to enhance the country's popularity as a transit route, and the regulatory initiatives necessary to support Russian shipping companies. The expansion of the main transport corridors, such as the One Belt, One Road global initiative will also be discussed.

“The experience of Russian Post suggests that consumer interest in cross-border e-commerce is continuing to grow. And we are seeing a corresponding increase in parcel volumes in the postal network. To improve in this area a number of operating decisions need to be taken, which will allow us to provide consumers with guaranteed delivery dates and fully realize the transit potential of our country. Over 90% of cross-border mail enters Russia from China. In the spring of 2019, Russian Post opened an office in Hangzhou, China. We want to be responsible for the entire shipment life cycle to Russian consumers, and so provide them with leading-edge, quality services. On top of that, by opening an office in China, we can now establish China–Europe and Europe–China transit routes,” said Nikolay Podguzov, CEO, Russian Post.

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