UNCTAD program to help developing nations' e-commerce market

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has launched a new initiative to help developing countries, including India, grasp the global e-commerce market, which has grown 38 percent from 2013, to be valued at around $22.1 trillion in 2015.

The new initiative, called "eTrade for All", brings international organizations, donors, and businesses under one umbrella, giving easier access to developing countries to cutting-edge technical assistance and options for funding. UNCTAD warned the developing countries that if they do not seize the rapidly growing opportunity of e-commerce, they may risk falling behind quickly.

The organization also pointed out that developing countries are lagging far behind the developed world in taking the vast scope of new generation trade opportunities. “By providing new opportunities and new markets, online commerce can help generate economic opportunities, including jobs,” Unctad secretary-general Mukhisa Kituyi said.

China is the world's largest business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce market, both in terms of sales and in a number of online shoppers, followed by the US and Japan. India, the 10th largest market in terms of buyers, was ahead of Brazil and Russia in per capita e-commerce spend, the UNCTAD report said.

The initiative will help developing countries in seven policy areas, including e-commerce assessments, information and communications technology infrastructure, payments, trade logistics, legal and regulatory frameworks, skills development and financing for e-commerce.

E-commerce market includes both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C), with a market value of $19.9 trillion and $2.2 trillion respectively. The UNCTAD data has observed that e-commerce is growing rapidly, mostly on the back of emerging economies.