The e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh (e-CAB) has reported a walloping great financial loss in the country's e-commerce sector due to the recent shutdown of internet and social network Facebook.
During a press conference at Banani in Dhaka on Wednesday, e-CAB president Shomi Kaiser disclosed that the sector had incurred losses exceeding Tk 17 billion over the past 13 days.
According to her, the sector has lost Tk 14 billion in the first 10 days of the blackout.
Ms Shomi detailed the devastating impact on various sub-sectors within e-commerce, with the primary e-commerce sector losing Tk 6.0 billion, e-tourism Tk 3.0 billion and e-logistics Tk 1.0 billion.
"The most affected are small-and-medium entrepreneurs who rely heavily on Facebook for business. Many of them are facing severe crises like closing their businesses and struggling to pay monthly salaries."
Ms Shomi suggested that internet and social platforms like Facebook never be shut down again, urging the government to provide low-interest, collateral-free loans to help these entrepreneurs bounce back.
The trade body of online marketplaces and commerce sites made a set of recommendations at the briefing.
The e-CAB chief suggested a six-month grace period for loan repayment and called for the positive branding of the sector internationally.
Additionally, she suggested collateral-free loans, no deductions for one-month advertising payments made to Meta, withdrawing a 15-per cent VAT on advertisements and waiving licence renewal fees for entrepreneurs.
Thanking the government for reopening the internet and Facebook, Ms Shomi noted that the crisis was not fully over due to issues like internet slowdown and random closure of Facebook.
She reiterated that 95 per cent of e-commerce transactions were still hampered by a number of factors like curfew and security risk.
The e-CAB is conducting a comprehensive survey to determine the full extent of the damage.
Leaders of the association of digital traders also highlighted their seamless efforts to restore broadband internet, mobile internet and Facebook access.
They underscored the need for collective action to overcome some unexpected challenges posed by the shutdown.
The recommendations aside, e-CAB leaders called for extending time for repaying bank loans by at least six months, providing easy-term loans, a temporary waiver of VAT on logistics and digital marketing.
They exhorted the authorities concerned to make provision for an extension of the trade licence renewal deadline.
They also requested that the government engage with Facebook to ensure refunds or re-advertisements for active ads affected by the shutdown.
e-CAB senior vice-president Md Sahab Uddin Shipon, vice-president Syeda Ambareen Reza, general secretary Nasima Akter Nisha, associate general secretary Khondoker Tasfin Alam, finance secretary Asif Ahnaf and directors Shahriar Hasan, Md Saidur Rahaman, Md Ilmul Haque and Arnab Mustafa were present at the briefing.
The e-commerce sector continues to seek government support to navigate the ongoing crisis and mitigate further losses.
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