Gov’t to rely on e-commerce to strengthen MSME sector

The Philippine e-Commerce Roadmap (PECR) is targeting to have at least 10 percent of the country’s micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs) actively engaged in online trade by 2020.

Trade Undersecretary Prudencio Reyes said the target of having about 100,000 of the country’s over 937,000 MSMEs engaged in e-commerce would enable local industries to tap the huge opportunities offered in the growing global online trade of goods and services.

Based on the PECR 2016-2020, the country’s e-commerce industry was projected to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 101.4 percent between 2013 and 2018, fueled largely by a fast growing Internet population.

In 2013, local e-commerce was valued at about $1.3 billion. The target was to raise the contribution of e-commerce to the local economy to 25 percent by 2020 from the current 10 percent.

“The Philippines, considering its sizeable youth population and a slightly smaller population in the working-age range, is thus well-placed to see an increase in online retail in the near future,” it said.

The roadmap also targets to have 40 to 50 percent of all Internet users in the country utilizing e-commerce by 2020. It also aims to ensure the availability of fast and competitive Internet access while strengthening cybercrime enforcement and protection.