SPEAKING at a workshop organised by the Governments
of Mexico, Indonesia,
South Korea, Thailand and Australia and supported by the International
Trade Centre (ITC), the WTO DG Roberto Azevedo said that e-commerce can
play a pivotal role in fostering growth and raising living standards, particularly
for developing countries.
The
workshop, held at the WTO yesterday, focused on addressing the challenges
that inhibit consumers and entrepreneurs from fully seizing the trade opportunities
that e-commerce can bring.
“By
reducing the trade costs associated with physical distance, e-commerce
allows businesses to access the global marketplace, reach a broader network
of buyers and participate in international trade. Broader dissemination of
such technologies means that the trade opportunities generated by e-commerce
are also available to businesses in developing countries, with some of them
making significant headway in recent years”, Director-General Azevêdo said.
Among the obstacles developing countries face in fully participating in e-commerce
are high digital infrastructure costs, lack of compliance with legal and fiscal
requirements of foreign e-markets, underdeveloped financial and payment systems
and low consumer trust.
The workshop also looked at the constraints faced by micro, small and medium
enterprises (MSMEs) in developing countries, which often “do not have the ability
to get around these problems”, DG Azevêdo said. Africa and the Middle-East
share less than 2 per cent of the world e-commerce market, the workshop heard.
Participants also discussed the role the WTO can play in lowering these barriers,
through the development of multilateral rules to harmonize procedures and reduce
operational costs. “We could look at how we can support small suppliers
to market their products in a timely fashion, with competitive prices and reliable
customer support”, DG Azevêdo said. “This would help consumers to have full
confidence in buying from MSMEs in the digital environment.”
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