e-CAB holds Workshop on Cross Border Policy

e-CAB has organized a workshop on cross-border e-commerce policy. Hafizur Rahman, Director General of WTO and Additional Secretary of Ministry of Commerce, inaugurated the workshop held on Saturday (October 15) at Daffodil International University's Ashulia Campus with the participants. Mr. AHM Shafikuzzaman, Director General of Consumer Protection Directorate was present at the time. While speaking as the chief guest, Hafizur Rahman said, in coordination with the international law and the experience of other countries, the Ministry of Commerce has already made a policy on cross-border e-commerce. Through this, the online accessibility of Bangladeshi products in foreign markets will be easy. The Director General of Consumer Rights said that various departments of the government are directly related to the import and export trade. Creating an up-to-date policy involving all parties can open the doors of immense potential for Bangladeshi entrepreneurs. Joining the meeting virtually, e-CAB President Shomi Kaiser said that e-CAB has started working on cross-border issues since it came under the purview of e-CAB. e-CAB has already identified 13 problems in this sector and informed the government about the measures to be taken in this regard. e-CAB General Secretary Mohammad Abdul Waheed Tamal highlighted various aspects of cross border e-commerce in the workshop. Besides, 40 participants also expressed their opinion. Representatives of various public and private institutions including Bangladesh Bank participated in it. Entrepreneurs involved in cross-border business at home and abroad also participated. The workshop was conducted by Ananya Raihan, CEO of ISOSHAL. He was assisted by Ainan Tajrian of DataSense and Deputy General Manager of e-CAB Farhat Mahjabin Samira. It may be noted that, despite the expansion of e-commerce business in the country, export-oriented e-commerce and cross-border e-commerce are not expanding due to various obstacles. e-CAB has been able to bring this matter to the notice of the government for more than one year. On behalf of e-CAB, the problems and possibilities of export and import dependent e-commerce were highlighted at various levels including Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Department of Posts and ICT Division. A few months ago, the Ministry of Commerce agreed to formulate a policy on cross-border e-commerce and set up a committee to draft the policy. The committee tasked e-CAB with making preliminary recommendations. As a result, this workshop was organized after preliminary research and opinions of the sector concerned.