Our operating partner OMN has signed an agreement with Shanghai Bazaar in Astana — the city’s largest trading hub, with more than 10,000 stalls — to build a dedicated building-materials wholesale zone for Chinese manufacturers.
For factories that have wanted a physical foothold in Central Asia without setting up a local entity, this is that foothold.
What was signed
The agreement covers a permanent exhibition and wholesale zone inside the bazaar: showroom space, shared warehousing, and joint promotion to the buyer traffic that already flows through the hub daily. Chinese building-materials brands can display, stock and sell without leasing independently.
Why physical stalls still matter in a digital play
Central Asian wholesale buying still happens at the bazaar. Purchasing managers walk the rows, touch the tile, check the fittings, and order on the spot. The winning model is hybrid: the stall is the showroom, the platform is the catalog, the settlement layer and the reorder channel.
What manufacturers get
- A permanent display presence without registering a Kazakh entity.
- Local staff who speak Russian and Kazakh handling walk-in trade.
- RMB-denominated settlement options through the platform.
- Consolidated logistics from Chinese ports to the bazaar warehouse.
Next steps
The first zone opens with ceramic, sanitary ware, hardware and finishing-materials categories. Slots are allocated through Made-in-East.com — verified factories first. If your product belongs on that floor, now is the moment to raise your hand.
