Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi pledged his full support for development of e-Commerce in Bangladesh in line with the Vision 2021 and Digital Bangladesh, says a statement.
He said this while inaugurating a webinar on Post COVID-19: Challenges & Opportunities for Entrepreneurship and Employment in e-Commerce in Bangladesh evening organized by France-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIFB) in collaboration with Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) and e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh (e-CAB).
He said that the current volume of world e-Commerce is $3.5 Trillion and is expected to reach $4.5 Trillion in 2021 and it offers huge potential for Bangladesh for its development. He said the Government already formulated the National Digital Commerce Policy and launched its own satellite, Bangabandhu Satellite - 1 to expedite the building of Digital Bangladesh.
Tipu Munshi
In his opening remarks, President of CCIFB Syed Mahmudul Huq mentioned that the present COVID-19 crisis resulted in unprecedented economic disruptions, negative effect on production processes and trade-related activities. These prompted the industry to seek e-trade solutions and greater utilization of IT and digital techniques for ensuring sustained economic activities including trade and job creation.
He further said that Bangladesh e-commerce, by strengthening its backward linkage with agriculture, manufacturing and services industry, offered huge opportunities in innovations, entrepreneurship and employment generation, and could become a key driver for economic growth.
He emphasised combined efforts of the government, the private sector, Bangladesh expatriates with relevant experience and competence and the development partners for the purpose and urged Ministry of Commerce and BIDA to help in the formulation of a national strategy and action plan to overcome the challenges and harness the potential of e-commerce in the country.
Md. Hafizur Rahman, Director General of WTO Cell and Coordinator of the Central Digital Commerce Cell at the Ministry of Commerce made the keynote presentation a webinar and highlighted the needs to address the issues involving development of e-Commerce, both domestic and international. He explained the salient features of relevant national policies including e-Commerce Readiness Assessment and Strategy Formulation, ICT Infrastructure and Services, Trade Logistics and Trade Facilitation, Payment Solution, Legal and Regulatory Framework, e-Commerce Skill Development and Access to Financing. He also discussed preparation of a Complaint Management Mechanism in collaboration with e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh.