Category: Author’s post
Severe labor shortage affects Kazakhstan’s SMEs
A joint report by Mastercard and KPMG claims that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Kazakhstan have become one of the country’s main sources of employment. Nevertheless, they are facing a severe labor shortage.
According to the report, workforce shortage is one of the most pressing challenges for SMEs. It means that nearly half of businesses report staffing deficits acute. Experts cite the limited supply of qualified specialists and their high cost among the main reasons of the problem.
As the report explains, SME executives complain about the difficulty of finding qualified employees, especially production managers. It often happens that interviewed candidates do not meet requirements. Another problem is that staff lack the motivation for development, even though salaries are high and working conditions are good. It needs an increased number of skilled employees to scale up the business. Meanwhile, limited financial resources and labor shortages constrain it.
Nevertheless, 90% of surveyed business leaders complain about high salary expectations from potential employees, which smaller firms struggle to meet. Also, nearly 70% of respondents consider SMEs as less prestigious places to work.
Concerning labor productivity, in micro and small businesses it remains more than twice as low as in medium and large enterprises. Data show that a worker generated an average of about $10,100 in a small business in 2025, compared with $34,300 in medium-sized firms. This year the gap continues to widen.
Generally, major constraints for SMEs are limited access to financing and the high cost of borrowing.
An unstable tax and regulatory environment, as well as broader macroeconomic volatility are additional factors hindering SME development.
Nevertheless, SMEs are a key source of employment in Kazakhstan, in spite of these challenges. As an example, employment in the sector has demonstrated a growth of the workforce from 40% to 50% over the past five years. At present, SMEs employ nearly 4.7 million people out of 9.3 million employed nationwide. That means that roughly one in two workers is employed in this segment.
As the report shows, an average annual rate of SME employment growth is 6%. Meanwhile, the decline of employment in other sectors is about 3% per year.
The report notes that the concentration of employment in SMEs makes the labor market vulnerable to tax and regulatory changes. Also, negative shocks in the sector could directly cause rising unemployment.
According to the data previously reported by The Times of Central Asia, about 40% of Kazakhstan’s GDP currently account for SMEs. This figure is still below benchmark countries such as Turkey (41%), the United States (44%), and Uzbekistan (52%).
Source Link
Read moreNew regulations establish fines of up to 100,000 dinars for traders’ violations
Amendments to the Law on Trade adopted by the National Assembly of Serbia will come into force on 1 May 2026.
Notably, purchasing points receive a separate regulatory framework and are defined as a specialized form of wholesale trade intended for the purchase of agricultural products and livestock directly from producers.
For that, they need an entity that the competent ministry maintains in a special register – a centralized electronic database through the “e-purchasing point” system. It will record all key data (the identity of the buyer, the type of goods and the purchasing period).
In difference from the past, traders at purchasing points now must publicly display in advance the purchasing conditions, including prices depending on quality, payment deadlines, methods of assessing goods, and procedures in case of disputes. They also must display the contact details of inspection services is mandatory.
Communication with consumers will also change. Firstly, the prior consent of the consumer is now necessary for traders to send offers. Secondly, only registered traders may sell goods in sales at events. Also, they reduce the deadline for certain applications from 60 to 30 days.
Amendments specify that farmers may sell exclusively their own produce to eliminate the possibility of resale under their name.
Also, the Government will transfer some of its competences to the line minister.
It will be mandatory to consolidate records when delivering goods from a retail outlet. Other new rules claim from the issuer of trust marks in e-commerce submission of detailed information to the ministry on the criteria and methods for awarding such marks.
The requirement to make all product information available to consumers prior to purchase, in a manner that is permanently visible and easily accessible, is one of the more significant aspects of the amendments related to product declaration and labelling. Simultaneously, they want to introduce a unified product coding system to standardize product labelling on the market.
According to the law, unit prices must be displayed where possible. Traders may sell products for the first time at lower prices, but for a maximum period of 60 days. The new rules introduce the concept of a “previous price”, or the lowest price at which they offered product during a specified period prior to the discount.
The law also tightens requirements for market and municipal inspectors. Now, they must now have higher education qualifications, pass professional exams, and meet additional criteria prescribed by law and internal regulations.
The new rules prescribe a uniform fine of 100,000 dinars for a wide range of offences that legal entities commit. Almost all key aspects of business operations (marking purchasing points and maintaining transaction records to transparency in pricing and product declarations) are in the list of offences.
A trader will also fall under fines if he fails to provide requested data to the competent authorities, does not display business hours or fails to comply with them, or sells goods without properly labelled information.
Concerning promotions and advertising, a trader will fall under the same financial penalty if he offers goods with special sales incentives contrary to the rules or advertises discounts in a manner not compliant with the law.
Nevertheless, the maximum fine is reduced in certain cases from the previous 500,000 to 150,000 dinars.
As for the amount of fines, a model appears that takes into account a range of factors (the severity and duration of the offence, benefit gained by the trader, efforts made to mitigate consequences for consumers). They also consider previous offences and penalties imposed in other countries in cases of cross-border operations.
Source Link
Read moreGeorgian small businesses will get expanded support
As Mayor Kakha Kaladze said during a municipal government meeting, Tbilisi City Hall is expanding its ‘Micro and Small Business Support’ initiative. This pilot project will become a full-fledged program with significantly increased financial backing for local entrepreneurs.
The increase in the maximum co-financing limit, which rises from 20,000 GEL to 50,000 GEL, will be the central change under the updated program. Notably, approximately 50 businesses received support to acquire equipment and grow their operations due to the expansion at the pilot phase.
A tiered co-financing model based on project size is introduced by the program. Projects under 5,000 GEL will get up to 90% funding. Projects between 5,000 and 20,000 GEL – 85%, projects between 20,000 and 30,000 GEL – 80%, and projects between 30,000 and 50,000 GEL – 70%.
City Hall officials will give priority to applicants with operational businesses and clearly defined development plans.
Source Link
Read moreKazakhstan’s trade turnover with the UK grew up to $1.6 billion
The United Kingdom and Kazakhstan have signed a new agreement expanding cooperation in energy, trade, and technology, as both sides look to surpass last year’s $1.6 billion trade turnover in 2025. Also, Kazakhstan is set to host branches of British universities.
As Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Issetov said during the April 16 session, Kazakhstan’s Senate (Parliament’s upper chamber) outlined the plans and ratified a strategic partnership and cooperation agreement.
Another issue Kazakhstan is working on is simplifying visa procedures with the UK. Students, academics, business representatives, and official delegations will be the target audience. According to Issetov, there is an imbalance, especially when the UK has tightened migration requirements.
As Isetov said, the presence of British oil majors Shell and BP in Kazakhstan is expanding. He denied previous reports of Shell’s potential withdrawal from the Kazakh market.
The Minister said that the Ministry of Energy and Shell signed a new exploration contract in the Aktobe Region in March, which will run until 2032.
He also mentioned BP’s activity: KazMunayGas and BP recently signed an agreement on geological exploration in the Mangystau Region.
As Isetov highlighted, the bilateral trade between Kazakhstan and the UK attained $1.6 billion last year. It is a great progress compared with $886 million in 2024 and $1.2 billion in 2023.
Raw materials, including oil and rare earth metals are main Kazakhstan’s export items. Meanwhile vehicles, machinery, pharmaceuticals, and construction equipment come from the UK.
Education is another important field of cooperation. The sides signed the agreement that lets UK universities open branches in Kazakhstan. This will help strengthen academic exchange, train specialists, and improve access to international education.
Recent agreements signed in London, such as a memorandum on university cooperation, are the basis of the initiative. They expect it to enhance the country’s human capital development.
Source Link
Read moreKazakhstan revealed its top employment regions
In general, dynamics in Kazakhstan’s labor market is positive in 2025. As Qazinform News Agency reports, the number of employed people increased by 106,000 compared to 2024 and attained 9.32 million.
The quantity of both men (4.81 million, up from 4.76 million) and women (4.51 million, up from 4.45 million) grew. 5.91 million employed residents (a year-on-year increase of 161,000) were in urban areas. Meanwhile, there was a slight decline (from 3.47 million to 3.41 million) in rural areas.
Totally, there were 7.17 million salaried employees in the labor market (up from 7.02 million in 2024). Nevertheless, the number of self-employed individuals decreased to 2.15 million from 2.20 million a year earlier.
However, there was a decline of the total number of informally employed residents in 2025 (to 942,000, down from 1.11 million in 2024). Agriculture (389,000) and trade (170,000) had the primary shares of informal workers.
Wholesale and retail trade and automobile repair are the largest employment sectors with 1.56 million workers (up from 1.53 million a year earlier). 1.23 million people worked in education. Then followed industry with 1.16 million. The number of people employed in agriculture decreased to 986,000.
4.37 million employees had higher or postgraduate education. Also, 4.44 million employees underwent technical and vocational training. Concerning age groups, 2.64 million workers referred to the 35–44 category. Meanwhile, 1.08 million were youth aged 16–24.
In terms of total employed residents, Almaty (1.12 million), the Turkistan region (831,000), and Astana (765,000) were the leaders. The Ulytau region demonstrated the lowest employment level (95,500).
Source Link
Read more2,608 GEL is the average monthly salary in the business sector 839.2 thousand people worked in business sector in the IV quarter of 2025 (year-on-year 3.4% increase). 43.3 % of them were female and 56.7 % were male.
The total number of employees increased by 2.4% year-on-year and reached 782.8 thousand. Enterprises spent 6 260.3 million GEL on personnel (year-on-year 13.1 percent more). Average monthly remuneration of employees was 2 608.4 GEL (241.3 GEL increase year-on-year) in the IV quarter of 2025. Meanwhile, remuneration specifically for women employees was 1 998.0 GEL (150.7 GEL increase year-on-year). Large business showed average monthly remuneration equal to 2 743.7 GEL, medium size business — 3 084.9 GEL, and small business — 2 152.2 GEL.
The highest share (35.9%) in the total turnover in business sector belonged to the arts, entertainment and recreation in the IV quarter of 2025. Then followed trade sector (including repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles) (32.9 % share), manufacturing (7.3 %), construction (6.4%), transportation and storage (4.5 %), information and communication (3.3%), and other sectors (9.7% share).
The top five business sectors by production value in the IV quarter of 2025 were manufacturing (18.6%), trade (18.5%), construction (18.5%), transportation and storage (9.3%) and information and communication (8.4 %). The combined share of the rest of the sectors is 26.6 %.
Source Link
Read moreA foreign national can carry out professional activities without residence and work permits in certain cases
Nevertheless, this will be possible only for a specific project without long-term establishment in the local labor market.
Members of the ruling party are adding a special article to the Law on “Labor Migration” in this regard.
As the draft law says, a foreigner will be allowed to engage in short-term professional activity in Georgia without a work permit or a corresponding residence permit. For this, he must carry out an activity within the framework of a temporary visit, without long-term employment in the local labor market. It must be connected to a specific short-term project, event, or service.
A government decree will determine the list of such short-term professional activities, their duration, and the criteria for classifying them as short-term.
They will not consider as a labor immigrant a foreigner carrying out short-term professional activities or a self-employed foreigner in Georgia.
The list of activities exempt from the requirements of having a residence or a work permit will include individuals holding a valid special residence permit issued based on a written initiative of a member of the Government of Georgia. Also, employees of public institutions or enterprises with state participation will be included in the list. Moreover, remote workers from another country for a local employer will also be exempt from these requirements, as well as workers providing services to a non-resident entity related to activities carried out outside Georgia. The Law on “Accounting, Reporting and Auditing” will define managerial roles or participation in audit committees in first, second, and third category enterprises.
So, new reality needs to reduce bureaucratic pressure and to create a mechanism that allows for the legal recognition of short-term professional visits without requiring a residence permit. The current legal framework on labor migration cannot do this.
Due to this reason, the Government of Georgia decided to define detailed criteria. New legal acts will ensure greater flexibility and efficiency. They will allow timely adjustments to types of activities and durations in line with the country’s needs and optimize labor migration management.
According to the initiating members of Parliament, this will provide a differentiated approach based on the duration and nature of employment and remove unnecessary administrative barriers.
Undoubtedly, administrative barriers do not correspond with the dynamic nature of the labor market. So, they decided to exempt certain specific activities from the requirements of the law on “Labor Migration.”
Source Link
Read moreThe demand for jobs with included housing fell by 26% in Ukraine, despite a 20% increase of the salaries for such offers over the year.
A job portal in Ukraine reports that the average salary in employment vacancies that offer housing in February 2026 was ₴30,000 ($694 at the average monthly rate in February). In 2025 it was ₴25,000 ($649 at the February 2025 rate). Meanwhile, the number of these vacancies decreased by 6% – from 9,044 in 2025 to 8,464 this year. A 26% downfall over the year was also demonstrated by the demand for jobs with housing.
The manufacturing sector offered the largest number of vacancies (1,569) with a median salary of ₴32,500 ($754). It is 18% higher than last year. Security guards, drivers, handyworkers, loaders, nannies, builders, salespeople, and auto mechanics are among other popular professions.
The labor market with 3,346 vacancies and a median salary of ₴31,500 ($731) makes the Kyiv region the leader. This market showed a 15% increase year-over-year. Mykolaiv (91 vacancies), Donetsk (26), and Kherson (20) have the fewest job offers with housing. Nevertheless, even these regions have demonstrated an increase in salaries on average by 18% to 43% annually.
Source Link
Read moreVisa-free travel regime will appear between Kazakhstan and North Macedonia
Kazakhstan and North Macedonia are going to deepen bilateral ties. To do that, the countries are going to introduce a visa-free regime.
As the Caspian Post reports, Kazakh Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Issetov and Zoran Dimitrovski, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of North Macedonia, discussed the issue during the third round of political consultations.
The participants exchanged views on regional and global developments. They also noted the steady progress in bilateral relations.
Moreover, the outcomes of recent high-level visits, including those by President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova and Foreign Minister Timčo Mucunski to Astana in 2025, were highlighted by diplomats.
Expanding cooperation across key sectors such as agriculture, energy, transport, tourism, education, and culture were in the focus of the talks. Other important topics were boosting trade, diversifying its structure and the possibility of easing travel rules for citizens of both countries.
Also, North Macedonia’s Foreign Ministry expressed confidence that adopting a new Constitution in the March 15 referendum will support the Kazakhstan’s development.
As diplomatic relations between the countries have the history of more than 30 years, both sides expressed the intention to cooperate and to advance joint projects.
Due to this reason, the diplomats welcomed organizing this April trade and economic mission of Kazakhstan in Skopje. They are also planning to establish a Business Council between the Сhambers of commerce and industry within the framework of this event.
Source Link
Read morePKS offers new support programme for start-ups
As of today, start-ups can get help from a new Support Programme. The target audience are newly established entrepreneurs, micro and small enterprises operating for no longer than 36 months, or 48 months if the majority owner is a woman, as well as individuals planning to start their own business.
The Serbian Foundation for Entrepreneurship and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia (PKS) announced this at the signing of an agreement. The Support Programme for start-ups is aimed at creating a stimulating environment for the development of entrepreneurship, encouraging sustainable business ideas and generating new jobs in Serbia.
It provides comprehensive support to all those starting or developing a business through a combination of financial and non-financial measures.
According to the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia, Marko Čadež, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurs make up 99.8 per cent of Serbia’s economy. They employ almost two-thirds of those working in the non-financial sector and contribute 56.9 per cent to GDP. Despite this good indicator, there is still room for growth and a need for stronger support.
He also emphasized that the new Support Programme for start-ups is focused on encouraging entrepreneurship, self-employment and the creation of new jobs. Meanwhile, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia will be an implementation partner and provide expert support in preparing business and investment plans and in implementing incentive loans.
According to the Director of the Serbian Foundation for Entrepreneurship, Aleksandar Grabovac, support for start-ups is one of the foundation’s key priorities.
He said that they plan to help around 800 beneficiaries undergo training and develop the skills needed for successfully starting and running their own business through this programme. They plan to do it in cooperation with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia by the end of 2026. It will further strengthen institutional support and create more favourable conditions for the development of entrepreneurship in Serbia.
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia will provide advisory support and free training within the Programme. In addition, partner banks will provide beneficiaries with loans of up to 30,000 euros. Also, users who repay the loan regularly and continue their business operations will get grants of up to 20 per cent of the loan amount, or a maximum of 3,000 euros.
The aim of the activities of the Government of Serbia is the improvement of the entrepreneurial environment. International partners, the Government of Germany and the German development bank KfW work in cooperation within this programme.
Halkbank, ProCredit Bank, 3Bank, Erste Bank, NLB Komercijalna Banka and OTP Banka participate in the implementation of the Programme.
Source Link
Read more