ISLAMABAD, May 7 : Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce, Abdul Razak Dawood Friday said that the announcement of including Pakistan in Amazon’s sellers list was a big news that would open new avenues of e-commerce and exports for the country.
“Pakistan is about to enter a new era of e-commerce as Amazon will give the boost to Pakistan’s e-commerce landscape,” he said while addressing a press conference here along with Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Hussain Chaudhry.
He said the Amazon would provide the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) platform to sell their products anywhere in the global market.
He said thousand of jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities will be created with the decision specially the young breed and women entrepreneurs could earn money through this platform.
However, he said there were some challenges which needed to be addressed. “Our courier companies would have to show responsibility in timely delivery of parcels around the globe,” he said adding the manufacturers and entrepreneurs would also have to maintain the quality of their products according to the international standards.
The minister added that the government would also provide training to the sellers through Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) that how to deal with the customers on Amazon. Meanwhile Economic Counsellor, Pakistan’s Permanent Mission to the WTO and Additional Secretary Ministry of Commerce Aisha Moriani said on the occasion that the Ministry of Commerce was working on this matter for the last one year and a pilot project was initiated with the help of Pakistan Embassy USA.
Aisha Moriani who was leading the matter of Amazon, said Amazon made almost 300-400 billion USD sales every year.
Pakistan’s addition in the sellers list will create new export opportunities, Amazon’s 3P model serves brand owners while 1P model is for mass producers who want to produce for Amazon brand items. Some of the Pakistani companies are already selling on Amazon but Pakistan’s inclusion in the list will increase opportunities for SMEs, she added.
She said the National E-Commerce Council (NECC) was instrumental in taking the issue forward as all public sector organizations were represented there.
She said although Pakistani products were already being sold on Amazon as it had a good manufacturing base for textile, sports, leather and surgical goods. However Pakistan was not in the sellers list and companies had to register from their offices outside Pakistan or they were producing for other brands available on Amazon.
The major difference after being added in the sellers list will be that Pakistani companies would be able to create IDs using their Pakistani details including Pakistani banks, she added.
She added that SMEs youth and women entrepreneurs would have great opportunities to connect with the global market and the new era of Ecommerce boom for Pakistan would start to promote more business and Pakistani brands as they would be able to access all major markets through Amazon.
She said that the private sector logistics companies had an opportunity to scale up businesses and develop international partnerships for making logistics perform for effective delivery.
“Pak Post is also having automation and preparing itself for parcel deliveries. It is also a business opportunity for marketing service providers to develop Pakistani brands, content and quality pictures for Pakistani sellers,” she added.
