Stakeholders from several government agencies and private sector representatives gathered for a two-day workshop to finalise the research report; ‘e-commerce readiness of Sri Lanka’ which has been developed by the Commonwealth Secretariat (COMSEC), UK along with the Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB).
The workshops were held at the EDB recently attended by Trade advisor, COMSEC, UK, Opeyemi Abebe and Senior Consultant, Grail Consulting Services, India, Abhishek Kumar.
The main objective of this workshop was to assess the e-commerce readiness of Sri Lanka and identify the opportunities that exist for businesses to participate in global e-commerce trade.
Sri Lanka, as an emerging market in South Asia has seen online sales picking up very fast, indicating a tremendous growth potential to become a leading player in the e-commerce space in the region. E-commerce is primarily being driven by consumers using mobile phones to purchase products online, a spokesman for the EDB said.
Based on international best practices, the e-commerce readiness assessment report considered five parameters for the assessment of e-commerce in Sri Lanka. These parameters cover the five key result areas of e-commerce: citizen maturity, business readiness, IT infrastructure and accessibility, logistics and delivery and policy and regulations. The main titles covered under this assessment report were Global E-commerce trends and best practices, E-commerce situational analysis in Sri Lanka and Baseline state of e-commerce readiness and maturity.
This report will enable the Government to identify the gaps in the digital eco-system that impede growth in the sector and make recommendations to fast-track the implementation of reforms, to enhance the opportunities for growth in digital trade and the increasing participation of Sri Lankan enterprises in regional and global e-commerce value chains.
The ultimate target of this assessment is to develop Sri Lanka’s e-commerce readiness in five aspects; consumer, business, logistics and delivery, IT infrastructure and accessibility and policy and regulatory maturity.