BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:unctad.org BEGIN:VEVENT UID:6af5e13620efe DTSTART:20160421T110000Z SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:OPAQUE DTEND:20160421T110000Z LOCATION:Geneva\, Switzerland SUMMARY:E-Trade for All: Consultations on a draft call for action CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:E-Trade for AllUnlocking the potential of e-commerce in develop ing countriesE-Commerce Week 2016This event is part of UNCTAD'\;sE-Com merce WeekE-commerce can become a powerful driver of economic growth\, inc lusive trade and job creation across the developing world. While some deve loping countries have made significant inroads into e-commerce\, most are still lagging behind.As mentioned in the UNCTAD Information Economy Report 2015\, the extent to which people purchase goods and services online vari es considerably among countries\, ranging from less than 2 per cent of peo ple in some middle-income countries to more than 70 per cent in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.Smaller businesses also tra il larger enterprises in taking advantage of the Internet for e-commerce\, hampering their ability to reach new customers in domestic and foreign ma rkets.While numerous development partners\, foundations\, and private sect or players are working from different angles to unlock the power of the In ternet for economic development\, current efforts are seldom holistic or s ystematically focused on building e-commerce economies.Against this backdr op\, UNCTAD is taking the lead in exploring possibilities for launching a new global initiative called E-Trade for All\, aimed at unlocking the pote ntial of e-commerce in developing countries.To launch the initiative\, a d raft call for action has been prepared by representatives of Governments\, international organizations and private sector enterprises involved in e- commerce.E-Trade for All in briefE-Trade for All is intended to be a mul ti-stakeholder initiative to improve the ability of developing countries a nd countries with economies in transition to use and benefit from e-commer ce. It will be a demand-driven mechanism in which leading development part ners cooperate with the private sector to pool capabilities and resources. The goals of the initiative are as follows:To raise awareness of opportuni ties and challenges related to leveraging e-commerce.To mobilize and ratio nalize financial and human resources to implement e-commerce projects in d eveloping countries.To strengthen coherence and synergies among partners&# 039\; activities with a view to avoiding duplication of work and enhancing aid efficiency.UNCTAD invites all stakeholders to review the draft call f or action and contribute their experiences\, views and priorities concerni ng the Aid for eTrade initiative. Written comments are welcome and should be sent to ict4d@unctad.org no later than 10 April 2016.Contributions will be made available online in the language in which they are received\, unl ess contributors have specifically requested that they should not be publi shed.<\;p class="\;text-align-center\n\nView meeting on unctad.org\n https://unctad.org/meeting/e-trade-all-consultations-draft-call-action DTSTAMP:20261112T155430Z END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR