Govt Organizes Workshop to Overcome E-Commerce Challenges

The Ministry of Commerce organized a two-day workshop to overcome challenges in e-commerce logistics, to improve efficiency, cross-border e-commerce exports, and system automation.

The workshop was held in collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Pakistan Regional Economic Integration Activity (PREIA) and was attended by more than 65 key stakeholders.

The purpose of the workshop was to solicit recommendations from stakeholders to overcome challenges in e-commerce logistics and to develop an implementation action plan that specifies measures needed to improve logistical efficiency in last-mile delivery, cross-border e-commerce exports, and system automation.

The workshop brought together stakeholders from public and private sector organizations, including the Ministry of Commerce, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Revenue Authorities, Pakistan Single Window (PSW), Pakistan Post, and Pakistan Customs. Private sector participation included representation from online marketplaces, e-commerce merchants, logistics companies, commercial banks, women entrepreneurs, and Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

In her inaugural address, Aaisha Makhdum, Executive Director General, the Ministry of Commerce, apprised the participants that despite being a nascent sector, e-commerce growth in Pakistan has been promising. She emphasized the importance of public-private collaboration to achieve e-commerce policy objectives. She also apprised the participants of the government’s initiative to facilitate B2C e-commerce exports through SRO 14, which enables SMEs to export varied goods in small quantities.

Muhammad Suleyman Khan, Director General (Services), Ministry of Commerce, presented the findings of a survey conducted earlier this year by the Ministry to solicit key challenges in domestic and cross-border e-commerce logistics. The survey respondents included e-commerce sellers, online marketplaces, and logistics companies.

He mentioned that the survey respondents listed unavailability of last-mile delivery in rural areas; cash on delivery being the preferred mode of payment; a high rate of returns; high international shipping costs and long delivery times; and access to warehousing and fulfillment services in destination countries as some of the key challenges.

Moreover, he informed the participants of the workshop’s objectives, which included the creation of an e-commerce logistics implementation action plan to guide regulatory reforms and other initiatives; the identification of data collection points for mapping e-commerce transactions; and the establishment of e-commerce logistics benchmarks.

Participants from the public and private sectors provided valuable feedback to the Ministry to improve efficiency in domestic and cross-border e-commerce logistics.