The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), in commemoration of the 20th year of Republic Act 8792 or the Electronic Commerce Act of 2000, has committed to implement policies to strengthen and grow e-commerce in the country while supporting current legislative measures by Congress. The DTI stated that the country needs to update its 20-year-old eCommerce Act of 2000 as well as the country’s eCommerce Philippines 2022 Roadmap.
With a strategy that focuses on “Security, Speed, and Structure” to increase sales, DTI is moving to further bolster e-commerce in the country in addition to strengthening the protection of online consumers and online merchants, particularly the micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The DTI is also supporting various bills related to e-commerce, particularly House Bill 6122 or the ‘Internet Transactions Act’ which seeks to establish an eCommerce Bureau that will, among others, focus on promoting the development of e-commerce in the country by building trust between sellers and consumers, stronger online consumer protection, safer e-payment gateways, easier online business registration, and formulating other policies and programs to increase the number of online merchants and consumers.
The 2019 Google Temasek study indicated that e-commerce in the Philippines is expected to grow from USD 2.5 billion of Gross Merchandise in 2019 to USD 12 billion in 2025. There is a huge potential for growth of online commerce given that it accounts for only 3.78% of total retail in the Philippines valued at USD 63.2 billion.
(Source: Philippine News Agency)
