Ambassador and Permanent Representative C.A. Chaminda I Colonne delivers a Special address at the “1st Asia Pacific E-Commerce Policy Summit” in New Delhi

At the invitation of Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Thailand and Permanent Representative to United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), C. A. Chaminda I. Colonne recently delivered a Special Address in the Inaugural Session of the “1st Asia Pacific E-Commerce Policy Summit” which was jointly organized by ICRIER and United Nations ESCAP South and South West Asia Office in New Delhi, at the India Habitat Centre (IHC) in New Delhi.

Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER)  is one of the India’s premier economic think tank established in year 1981. The aim of the “1st Asia Pacific E-Commerce Policy Summit” was to provide a platform for policymakers and key experts to engage in open-dialogue and to forge partnerships and collaborations and to share the best practices.

Ambassador Chaminda Colonne emphasized that whether the Asia and Pacific is the home to 60 % of the world’s population, with diverse cultures, economies, and landscapes, many digital breakthroughs, from e-commerce to e-services, to digital finance, the vast digital divide in the Asia and Pacific region creates a significant barrier to equitable development, as its’ internet use is 64 % making over 1.5 billion people without access to the internet.

Ambassador highlighted that the digital economies in developed countries contribute approximately 40% to their GDPs, while Sri Lanka’s equivalent contribution is currently estimated to be at 5% ($ 3.7 billion), and therefore, to transform Sri Lanka into a sustainable, digital society by leveraging advanced, technology-based solutions through the seven-year (DIGI-ECON-2030) programme, was launched in November 2023, and the Government is striving for a US $ 15 billion income for Sri Lanka from digital economies by 2030.

Ambassador Chaminda Colonne added that “The National Digital Strategy of Sri Lanka for 2023-2030, supports the building of one of the three pillars identified for the new economy. Through its implementation, the strategy accelerates Sri Lanka’s development trajectory towards becoming a developed country by 2048.  Under this strategy Sri Lanka to use digital technologies to: Enhance economic competitiveness to drive exports and foreign exchange earnings; Create high paying jobs for young people, women, and rural populations; and deliver trusted and inclusive public services to everyone, everywhere. This framework focuses under six themes, namely on 1.  Broadband connectivity, 2. Digital infrastructure, 3. Digital transactions, 4. Digital safeguards, 5. Digital industry, jobs and skills, and the 6. Acceleration of digitization. Currently, 4.3% of GDP is allocated to the digital economy in Sri Lanka. Increasing this to 20% can robustly propel the digital economy forward. Accordingly, Sri Lanka’s Budget-2023 allocated 3 billion Rupees to implement digital economy-related activities”.

The role of the Ministry of Technology of Sri Lanka to spearhead the establishment of the digital economy through extensive public and private partnerships, through ground work laid by the Information Technology Agency of Sri Lanka, establishing a National Centre for Artificial Intelligence, technological innovation council and a Universal Digital Identity platform, during this seven-year plan (DIGIECON 2030), was elaborated by the Ambassador.

Ambassador Chaminda Colonne stated that Sri Lanka became the first country in South Asia and second country is Asia (after Singapore) to become a state party to UN Electronic Communication Convention (UN ECC) through the Amending the Electronic Transactions Act No. 25 of 2017 which ensure greater legal certainty for e-Commerce and e-Business providers. The Computer Crimes Act No. 24 of 2007, the Intellectual Property Act no. 36 of 2003 replaced the Code of Intellectual Property Act no. 52 of 1979, Information and Communication Technology Act No.27 of 2003, the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, No. 28 of 2005, the Payment Devices Frauds Act No.30 of 2006, enforced in Sri Lanka, were also emphasized.

Importance of projects like  “E-Commerce Capacity Building for Women-led Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in South Asia” organized by the UNESCAP – South and South-West Asia Office, “One Village One Product (OVOP)” projects in Sri Lanka, as an inspiration of One Tambon One Product (OTOP) programmed in Thailand, scaling up digital transformation through South-South and triangular cooperation by creating synergies, developing expertise, boosting resources and collaborations and harmonizing policies and standards in different regions were also highlighted by the Ambassador.

During the inauguration, welcoming remarks were made by the Chair of the 1st Asia Pacific E-Commerce Policy Summit and Chairman, ICRIER Pramod Bhasin, and the Additional Secretary & Director General, Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Ministry of Commerce & Industry (MoC&I), Government of India Santosh Kumar Sarangi, delivered the Key Note address. Secretary of State, Ministry of Commerce, Royal Government of Cambodia Chea Ratha, also made a special address.

Co-Chair and Director/Head, UN-ESCAP South & South West Asia Office, New Delhi, Mikiko Tanaka, and Professor, ICRIER Dr. Arpita Mukherjee, also addressed the inauguration, and Director & CEO, ICRIER Dr. Deepak Mishra made the vote of thanks.

Panel discussions were held under four different themes namely; Facilitating a Robust Framework for Cross-Border E- Commerce to enable MSMEs; Interaction with Policymakers on E-Commerce an Enabler for Growth and Exports: Ensuring Consumer Protection in the Age of E-Commerce; E-Commerce Trade and Cross-Border Data Flows; Interactive Discussions on Emerging Payment Technologies in APAC; How social media is Transforming E-Commerce.

Former Chief Secretary, Government of Karnataka; Founder-President, UBUNTU Consortium – A Global Platform for Women Entrepreneurs Associations; Global Ambassador, ABWCI, K. Ratna Prabha; Former Secretary, Government of India and International Trade Expert Sumanta Chaudhuri; Deputy Head UN-ESCAP South & South -West Asia Office Dr. Rajan Sudesh Ratna, Chief General Manager, Export-Import Bank of India Lokesh Kumar, Economic Advisor of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Dr. Donghyun Park; Director of Trade, Investment, and Innovation, UNESCAP  Dr. Rupa Chanda; Ex-MD, Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran, RBI; and Director, Finiverse Aggregator Pvt. Ltd. Sudhakar Kaza and many other prominent figures in the fields of International law & trade, cyber security, social media, innovations, digital economy, e-commerce exchanged their views and experiences during panel discussions.

Chair, ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement Negotiations Prewprae Chumrum, Vice President – Strategy, Invest India, Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India Dr. Hindol Sengupta, also made special addresses.

Embassy & Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka
Bangkok
09^th May 2024