Government readies rollout of e-commerce roadmap

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s budding e-commerce industry is bound to get a much needed boost in the coming months as the government prepares to come out with the initial Philippine e-commerce roadmap.

Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Adrian Cristobal Jr. said the agency would be launching within the next two months the roadmap that would lay down the short, medium, and long term direction to strengthen the e-commerce industry in the country.

According to the country’s major e-commerce players, the industry is forecast to hit at least $1 billion in sales with almost 50 million Filipinos online.

And while big Filipino corporations are beginning to muscle their way abroad through mergers and acquisitions, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), on the other hand, have the chance of taking their services and products internationally through e-commerce.

“Platforms like Alibaba have opened up markets to hundreds of millions of MSMEs in China contributing to alleviation of poverty by creating jobs to the economy. We should follow that track in the Philippines,” Cristobal said.

“Through the Internet, they are able to find customers and they’re able to export and they don’t have to deal with customs. This kind of e-commerce platform is what we have to promote. That will be a big boost to our MSMEs,” the DTI chief added.

Cristobal said while certain facilities and tools might be available locally, entrepreneurs, especially the micro and small ones, still do not know how to use them.

As for customers, issues on credibility of transacting with online platforms persist.

“The launch of our e-commerce roadmap will be very essential, especially for us to be able to assist our MSMEs,” DTI Undersecretary Prudencio Reyes Jr. said.

Reyes said e-commerce has become a catalyst for a number of economies as it continues to expand its market globally.

“We need all hands together to increase the e-commerce penetration in the Philippines and this includes the government, private sector and consumers,” Lazada Philippines CEO Inanc Balci said.

Zalora Philippines marketing director Tolian Gjika, for his part, said the tremendous growth of mobile devices in the Philippines is creating new opportunities for customers, e-commerce companies and even traditional brands.