E-commerce site for NRBs goes live
An e-commerce site -- nrbbuysell.com -- set off its journey yesterday with the view to serving more than one crore non-resident Bangladeshis.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith inaugurated the “first global e-commerce site of Bangladesh” at a programme held at the capital's Bangabandhu International Conference Centre.
Muhith said the venture can help boost the country's exports.
“Without financial digitisation, corruption can't be reduced and I believe this new venture can play an important role here. That's why we want to boost this initiative.”
The finance minister said he has a target to place a Tk 500,000 crore budget in the next two years, which cannot be fulfilled without financial digitisation.
The global e-commerce market is currently worth $3 trillion. Bangladesh's e-commerce market, which is worth about Tk 1,000 crore at present, has a bright future, Muhith said.
At the programme, nrbbuysell.com served its first token order for Sajeeb Wazed Joy, the prime minister's ICT affairs adviser, who lives in the US, along with six other NRBs.
Officials of nrbbuysell.com, where people can both buy and sell products, said they will be able to deliver Bangladeshi products to every city and town of the world.
Wholesalers will also be able to conduct their business on the site, they added.
The e-commerce site's main target would be NRBs mainly in the Middle East, said Dilara A Khan, chairman of the nrbbuysell.com.
Bangladesh has recently received name and fame globally for its ICT products, said Zunaid Ahmed Palak, state minister for ICT. “Now it's our turn to explore opportunities in e-commerce as well.”
Terming the initiative an alternative to exports, Palak said: “We are focusing on our own products even in the services sector rather than acting as an importer or agent.”
Globally, online purchases have increased rapidly, said AK Abdul Momen, former permanent representative from Bangladesh to the United Nations. “So, there is no alternative to ensuring digitisation.”
The NRB-focused e-commerce site has created more scope for the e-commerce industry, said Shameem Ahsan, president of Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services.
But he demanded withdrawal of the proposed VAT on different segments of e-commerce services. “In the US, we can see that there is a tax holiday for the next ten years for e-commerce. Why are we not considering it?”
Jamaluddin Ahmed, a director of Bangladesh Bank, and Syed Mohammad Kamal, country manager of MasterCard, also spoke.