Jakarta, 15 July 2020: The second module on e-commerce for ERIA’s Capacity Building Programme started on 13 July with the posting of course materials on-line, followed by a live seminar held on 15 July. Focusing on the perspectives and challenges of e-commerce for the MSMEs community, this module will be completed on 17 July. Twenty-three government officials from Myanmar are participating in this course.

Mr Sven Callebaut once again moderated the live session, with Mr Rahul Bhatnagar, e-commerce and digital economy strategic expert, discussing and answering questions relating to the module materials, including on finance and taxation as well as consumer protection. By the end of this module, participants are expected to understand how to build a conducive business environment for MSMEs to thrive and succeed in e-commerce.

In the live session, Dr Lurong Chen, Senior Economist at ERIA, made a guest appearance. He highlighted the robust development of the digital environment in ASEAN as indicated by the emergence of multiple e-commerce platforms. He also pointed out the importance of this capacity-building activity as resources about MSMEs are still limited, which in turn might hinder them from maximising the opportunities presented by e-commerce and digitalisation.

Mr Jeremy Gross, ERIA’s Director for Capacity Building congratulated participants on their completion of Module 1 and wished participants well for Module 2. He also welcomed observers to this on-line forum, Ms Tamara Failor of The Asia Foundation, Lao PDR, and Dr Giulia Ajmone Marsan, Director of Strategy and Partnerships at ERIA, as a positive way of sharing information and perspectives on issues many organisations are dealing with.