ISLAMABAD: Ministries of Commerce and Information Technology have decided to jointly work out a framework for the regulation of E-Commerce in the country.
The framework will provide guidelines for the fast increasing business of electronic commerce. This is an effort to lure multinationals like PayPal, E-bay, Amazon and Ali Baba to bring their businesses to Pakistan as the country now boasts a sophisticated and highly developed mobile and internet network system.
The decision was taken in a meeting co-chaired by Minister for Commerce Engr Khurram Dastgir Khan and Minister for State for Information Technology Anusha Rehman, said a statement issued by the Ministry of Commerce here on Thursday.
The regulatory framework will provide guidelines for payment gateway systems, consumer rights, dispute resolutions, provisions for setting of e-stores, provisions regarding e-supply chains and order security.
This will provide an enabling environment for the development of e-commerce in the country which is at a nascent stage and promises huge gains for the new investors. Khurram Dastgir said that Ministry of Commerce will keep apace with the development in the trade technologies and will provide appropriate forum for business to the enterprising young e-lancers.
According to an estimate there are more than one lac young entrepreneurs associated with the business of exporting software working on line with their foreign clients.
These e-lancers are facing great difficulties in bringing their payments back into Pakistan which is the primary hurdle in exploring the potential increase in this field.
The issuance of E-commerce frame work will address this problem and the will result in smooth inflow of money for these entrepreneurs. The receipts from this services export will then reflect in the exports of Pakistan as the cumbersome process currently used to bring the money back reflects this money as remittances.
The Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Information Technology and State Bank of Pakistan will hold a meeting in this context next week and the draft of frame work for e-commerce will be finalized in the next month.
E-Commerce is also on the agenda of the WTO Ministerial Conference to be held next month in Nairobi, Kenya.
