High-level seminar: Making electronic commerce work for development by connecting the dots
21 March 2022
Ambassador Didier Chambovey, Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Welcome to this joint session on e-commerce for development, organized by UNCTAD and Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs.
We are delighted to have Switzerland as a core partner for our work on e-commerce and the digital economy. Switzerland’s support further strengthens our assistance to Member States seeking to build their digital economies. And is great that they can benefit from Switzerland and Geneva’s role as a centre of excellence in the area of digital for development.
In fact, out of the 34 organizations that are members of the UNCTAD-led eTrade for all initiative, more than half are represented in Geneva or Bern.
Today’s session is timely. Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become even more clear how important it is for people, businesses and governments, to be able to make use of digital solutions to keep economic and social activities going. The uptake of e-commerce has markedly increased across the world, opening unimaginable opportunities everywhere.
But we have also been reminded of the inequalities that remain in the digital world. This is reflected both between and within countries. And given the accelerated pace at which the world is going digital, the chances of it leading to even wider divides are also amplified.
To illustrate, only 30% of Africans have access to internet, only 40% have a bank account, and postal services are four times less reliable than in developed economies. Without these three things – internet, e-banking and a reliable postal service – a healthy E- commerce market cannot take off.
So, to be able to drive change and support developing countries, UNCTAD has developed the eTrade Readiness Assessments. As of now, we have published 29 such assessments, 24 of which are in the least developed countries. They review the current state-of-play in seven key policy areas and make concrete recommendations to overcome existing weaknesses in the national e-commerce ecosystem.
Since a couple of years, we are also closely following up the extent to which countries we have assessed are implementing the proposed actions. This additional work was initially launched with financial support from the Government of Germany and is now continued with additional funds from the Netherlands and Switzerland. So let me take this opportunity to also express my appreciation to Dr. Rödiger-Vorwerk, the Deputy Director General of BMZ, for being with us here today. And let me tell you that
As a result of your support, we are about to release the results of the second such Implementation Review, so I will take this opportunity to share with you some key findings.
First, out of the countries who have actively participated in the latest review, a few countries stand out. Cambodia, Bhutan, Senegal and Togo all boast very high implementation rates, and Bhutan has taken new action in a particularly large number of areas in the past year.
Second, in many the countries, recommendations in the assessments have fed into policy development mechanisms and informed broader strategies, policies, laws and regulations.
Third, as the eTrade Readiness assessments apply more or less the same methodology for all countries, they provide a good basis for cross-country comparisons and exchange of experiences. It is therefore not surprising that they have been harnessed to improve regional cooperation in the area of e-commerce.
In this webinar you will hear from Ambassador Falemaka of the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat, and from Mr. Safola from the ECOWAS Commission. In both these cases, the eTrade Readiness Assessments have provided the basis for developing regional e- commerce strategies and policies.
But across the developing world, much more work is needed to help countries that are less mature in terms of digital readiness to catch up. Major weaknesses can be found in areas ranging from ICT infrastructure and skills development to law reforms and improvements in digital payments and financing of entrepreneurs.
It is against this background that we at UNCTAD believe strongly in partnerships. We need to continue to connect the dots across policy areas and across organizations. We need to continue to fight silo mentality at the global as well as the local levels. In countries, there is a need for more effective inter-ministerial coordination as well as more effective dialogue between the governments and the private sector.
To illustrate the importance of partnership across organization, I am pleased that the Deputy Executive Director of the International Trade Centre will join us today. The ITC is a very close partner of ours in the area of e-commerce and the digital economy. (Give me the name)
We also have Ms. Patricia Zoundi Yao, who is the Founder and CEO of Quickcash in Côte d’Ivoire and also one of our eTrade for Women Advocates. Patricia has played a very important role in raising the private sector perspective to achieve more inclusive digital economies in West Africa. There is still huge potential for more women entrepreneurs to grow in the digital economy.
UNCTAD is advocating for a more coordinated approach, especially at the country level to enhance synergies. We will continue to leverage the role of UN Resident Coordinator Offices to ensure an effective dialogue on the ground and full integration of countries’ priorities in UN Cooperation Frameworks, national development plans and COVID-19 recovery plans.
Now more than ever, when the risk of widening digital divides increase, digital cooperation through initiatives like eTrade for all, are instrumental to allow for relevant efforts to be scaled up and to provide solutions that can bring real impact on the ground, with the goal of leaving no one behind.
Let me close here and once again thank all the speakers for sharing your wisdom with us today, SECO for doing this webinar together with UNCTAD, and all people attending the event for prioritizing this important area of our work.
Thank you so much for your attention. I hope you enjoy this webinar.
