On October 15, 2022, a significant stakeholder workshop on Cross-border E-commerce Policy Development was held to address the accelerating growth and evolving challenges of Bangladesh’s digital economy. The event brought together over 30 participants from a diverse range of institutions, including policymakers, regulators, market actors, think tanks, and industry associations.

Date: October 15, 2022 | Time: 9:00 AM – 6:30 PM (BST) | Venue: International Conference Hall, Daffodil International University

The workshop was meticulously designed to be a collaborative platform, with the primary objective of developing a sound, research-backed policy for the cross-border e-commerce sector. Over the course of the day, participants engaged in a series of sessions aimed at:

• Understanding the unique challenges faced by each stakeholder group across the entire value chain.
• Learning from the cross-country experiences of other nations.
• Identifying and prioritizing solutions to key challenges.
• Developing a clear roadmap for policy adoption and regulatory changes.

The program included a keynote presentation on the challenges and opportunities in the sector, followed by group exercises where stakeholders worked together to identify and prioritize problems. The discussions were dynamic, focusing on critical issues related to logistics, taxation, financial transactions, assurance, and intellectual property rights.

The workshop successfully laid the groundwork for a proposed policy draft, creating a skeleton for the document and outlining the necessary pathways for engaging with policymakers and regulators. The event was a crucial step in fostering a more collaborative environment, paving the way for a cross-border e-commerce policy that supports both market players and consumers in Bangladesh.