G20 proposes global platform to eliminate ecommerce barriers

B20 group, comprising business leaders from G20 countries, raised the idea of an electronic world trade platform (eWTP), as a policy recommendation to be considered during the two-day summit which opened in Hangzhou on Sunday.

“E-commerce is an emerging area of global trade but we don’t have a clear framework [on regulations for electronic trade],” said Thomas Bernes, a fellow with the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), an independent think tank in Canada. “The trade ministers of G20 will need to take it up when the eWTP is included in the list policy recommendations by B20.”

The eWTP, a concept first raised by Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba Group, in March 2016 at the Boao Forum, aims to reduce barriers for small and medium-sized (SMEs) enterprises in cross-border ecommerce. Bernes of CIGI said eWTP initiative will be beneficial for companies like Alibaba and Amazon – as well as small businesses.