Export Facilitation through Banking Products and Services in the Eurasian Economic Union

Master's Thesis from the year 2015 in the subject Economics - International Economic Relations, grade: 1, , language: English, abstract: Small and medium enterprises contribute to more than 50% of GDP in the developed economies. Yet, in developing markets, such as Kazakhstan, this sector remains untapped since SMEs are considered risky and not transparent enough to be financed by banks. Meanwhile, there is a lot of discussion whether SMEs in Kazakhstan can withstand the rivalry from their competitors within the newly formed Eurasian Economic Union. Remaining a threat for weak SMEs, the economic union is also a great opportunity for exporting SMEs in Kazakhstan to expand their businesses through exporting their products and services to the member states of the union. The study aims at identifying the challenges that are faced by the exporting SMEs in Kazakhstan when applying for banking products. Out of these challenges, a number of recommendations are developed for the banking industry in Kazakhstan. The results of the quantitative analysis applied in the study reveal that high interest rates and bank fees, documentary requirements and communication issues are the main challenges that are faced by the exporting SMEs in Kazakhstan. Therefore, banks are recommended to improve their risk assessment methodologies, to provide the SMEs with training programs and to improve their communication with the exporting SMEs. The findings of the study and the proposed recommendations can be applied both by the private and state banking institutions. Moreover, banks and other financial institutions can develop their own measures based on the findings revealed in this study. The measures can then be implemented in order to make the banking products more accessible for the exporting SMEs in Kazakhstan.