E-Commerce on the path of notable growth.

Byline: S. Kamal Hayder Kazmi

In the online world, e-commerce is basically a trade. It includes online sales, orders, information and flow of money, business transactions and transactions, etc. In short, under the umbrella of e-commerce is all the economic activity that is catered and driven through the internet. Today's e-commerce covers the entire business world.

E-commerce uses include online banking, business transactions, purchasing and selling services, electronic data exchange, e-commerce data collection (B2B), Business to consumer e-commerce (B2C), digital wallet, supply chain and logistics document automation, electronic tickets, management of business content, internet security, online auction, online office suites, social networking.

Sources urged that Pakistan's continued e-commerce growth would have a catalytic effect in empowering the digitally-savvy youth, encouraging women entrepreneurship, creating additional career opportunities in the market and increasing the prospects of Pakistan's SME sector.

The approval of the first-ever e-commerce policy framework is therefore an important step towards realizing Pakistan's digital commerce ambitions and, in turn, driving economic growth in Pakistan. Statistics showed that during FY2018 the country's e-commerce industry has been predicted to be at Rs 99.3 billion which rose from Rs 51.8 billion in FY2017, with YoY growth of 92 percent. With a population of about 208 million and various financial inclusion solutions in terms of branchless banking, the country offers one of the largest untapped markets in globally for e-commerce.

Source also recorded that the Government of Pakistan formally invited China to invest in Pakistan's digital businesses counting manufacturing of mobile phone handsets and other digital equipments for promotion and growth of the sector. It is also significant to note that the country is fast-growing telecom market with subscribers of mobile phones having crossed the 161 million mark as against with Pakistan's population. Of total subscribers, around 70 million use 3G/4G. There are 71 million broadband subscribers.

The government has dropped the Telephone Industry of Pakistan (TIP) from the privatization list and is mulling to establish mobile phone handsets plant in collaboration with private sector for its revival. Although e-commerce has still not reached a level where electronic money is predominantly used in place of cash for such transactions. Hence, there...