ISLAMABAD: The e-commerce gateway is need of the hour and its establishment will further boost consumers’ confidence, said Minister of State for Information Technology and Telecom­munications Anusha Rahman.

Chairing an inter-ministerial committee meeting here on Wednesday, the minister said that e-commerce markets were thriving globally, “in 2013 this industry had grown rapidly to $1,250 billion.”

She said that the local e-commerce industry needed secure mechanism for reliable authorisation and authentication of transactions to enhance consumers’ confidence.

“Buyers and merchants both need to feel confident in placing their sensitive information online, for which stringent regulations of the State Bank of Pakistan need to be in place,” she added.

She stressed that inter-ministerial committee should devise regulatory and legal framework on an urgent basis.

She further directed constitution of a working group tasked to devise a strategic plan in 30 days for establishment of e-commerce gateway and infrastructure for transactions.

Federal Secretary IT Azmat Ali Ranjha, Member Telecom Mudassir Hussain, Managing Direc­tor, Pakistan Soft­ware Export Board (PSEB), senior officials of Ministry of Com­merce, Finance Division, State Bank of Pakistan and Pakistan Tele­communi­cation Authority (PTA) also attended the meeting.

Published in Dawn, July 17th , 2014