The commerce ministry has drafted the Cross-Border Digital Commerce Policy 2024, saying that an internationally acceptable payment system will be introduced with the aim of finding new markets for local services and products of the country鈥檚 all kinds of entrepreneurs in order to increase exports.
The payment system will be linked with the country鈥檚 already existing payment systems for the digital commerce, according to the draft policy.
Md Sayed Ali, deputy secretary of central digital commerce cell of the commerce ministry, told 抖阴精品 that the draft policy had been uploaded on the ministry鈥檚 web site to get opinions from stakeholders with whom they had not been able to consult yet.
鈥榃e will revise the draft if there are corrections that need to be made. The draft then will be sent to the cabinet for approval of the advisers. If approved, the policy will be finalised,鈥� he said.
According to the draft policy, initiatives for a cross-border escrow service in coordination with the Bangladesh Bank will be taken to ensure reliability of the payment system, and steps to be taken to facilitate repatriation of export earnings and payment of import expenses for registered digital commerce enterprises.
The policy also promised special incentives if payments were made from abroad and the funds were brought to the country to encourage exports, and said that the name of the marketplace or digital platform must be included to the bill of entry, bill of lading or invoice along with the buyer鈥檚 name to facilitate payments.
The Bangladesh Bank will formulate necessary guidelines in accordance with the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act of 1947 in such cases, it added.
The policy states that selling counterfeit, low-quality, or imaginary products through international e-commerce are banned.
Selling tickets for online gambling, lotteries and betting is also prohibited, it said.
To operate in cross-border e-commerce, businesses must get a digital business identity. Exporters can use letters of credit or contracts with importers to conduct digital exports.
Small and medium businesses will have simpler rules for exporting small packages, with guidelines to support them.
Financial incentives for digital exports will match those for regular exports, the draft stated.
To speed up exports, policies will support setting up processing centres and warehouses locally and internationally, under private management with government monitoring.
Digital commerce export zones will be set up near ports for export processing, according to the draft.
The policy also seeks to build skilled human resources in digital commerce sector, have initiatives to increase transparency, security and proficiency in importing and exporting goods according to the international standard, create collaboration between ministries, government organisations and business associations and several other things.
A committee including representatives from the commerce ministry, National Board of Revenue, Posts and Telecommunications Division, ICT Division, Bangladesh Bank, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission and Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit, e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh, Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services and other stakeholder organisations will be formed for implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the policy.
Another committee comprising of specialists from different ministries, government divisions, departments, and organisations will be formed to identify the risks regarding imports and exports through cross-border digital commerce.
The government will take initiatives to resolve complexities and risks as per the suggestions of the specialists鈥� committee.
