Pakistan eyes to enhance e-commerce trade up to $9bn by 2023

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on e-commerce Aon Abbas Buppi has said that Pakistan is aiming to increase e-commerce trade volume up to $9 billion by June 2023.

Buppi admitted that there are already conflicting figures in Pakistan's e-commerce trade.

"However, with the current trade of $4.5 billion, we can take it up to $9 billion,'' the senator said in a statement on Thursday.

The SAPM said that the government will facilitate e-commerce traders by all means. “I will take care of all the issues of e-commerce traders including State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and other tax agencies,” he assured.

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Buppi further said that most of the issues are related to finance, taxes, logistics data and Ease of Doing Business (EoBD) “we are already aware of, and the government will pay full attention to this”.

The SAPM said that the government would soon be setting up the first e-commerce university which would enhance the capabilities of e-commerce traders not only in Pakistan but also in the emerging e-commerce international market.

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He added that the establishment of an e-commerce university would not only provide employment opportunities for the youth but would pave way for the country to become a part of the global supply chain, which would enhance Pakistan’s economic strength.

Similarly, the government was planning to create the first e-commerce web portal in the country, he said, which would help in curbing illegal trade. The senator added that an e-commerce portal would be created with the help of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.