A recent meeting of heads of participating delegations in the e-commerce talks of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) reaffirmed their commitment to a substantial conclusion of the negotiations by the end of this year, with development issues at the heart of the future outcome.

Flexibility, pragmatism and urgency are what is needed to achieve this goal, they stressed.

Till now, the initiative has ‘parked’ 11 provisions, including paperless trading, e-contracts, e-signatures, e-invoicing, spam, consumer protection, cybersecurity and an electronic transactions framework.

The negotiators hope to bridge differences on other provisions, such as single windows, personal information and data protection, by the summer, a WTO press release said.  

WTO director general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala drew attention to uneven participation in some regions in the digital economy due to digital and regulatory divides.

“While e-commerce has helped small businesses, and especially women-owned firms, tap into international markets, there is a great deal of room to improve. Digital trade can be an even more effective economic lifeline for marginalized groups and geographically remote areas,” she said.