“We believe that e-commerce is here to stay and will grow exponentially!”
Thus, exclaimed Mary Jean Pacheco, assistant secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), in a speech delivered at a forum titled, “E-commerce: Turning heavy traffic into a positive.” Also joining her at the forum are Ron Benito, Founder and CEO of Frenetic, Inc., with moderators Dafort Villaseran and Peter Conrad Carino, editors at The Manila Times.
During the same event, Pacheco explained the critical role that e-commerce and the digital economy play as key engines of growth and economic recovery in the country. “Amid slowing economic activity, COVID-19 has led to a surge in e-commerce and accelerated digital transformation in the Philippines,” she said.
Citing data from the DTI, Pacheco said e-commerce contributed $12 billion (P599 billion), or 3.4 percent to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020. Its contribution reached $22.6 billion (P1.1 trillion) last year, exceeding the government’s target of P17 billion (P850 billion).
This year, the Philippines’ goal is to increase e-commerce revenue to $24.2 billion (P1.2 trillion), or by 5.5 percent of GDP.
Pacheco added that the DTI also intends to increase the number of e-commerce businesses from 500,000 in 2020 to 750,000 by 2021 and to 1 million by 2022.
To do this, the government has launched the “Philippines E-Commerce Roadmap 2022” with the ultimate goal of creating an e-commerce ecosystem that can help drive industry development while offering long-term employment and inclusive growth.
COVID-19 has pushed businesses and consumers to go digital
Pacheco also explained how the pandemic has pushed consumers to engage in trading and make their business transactions, if not all, then most, online. “As lockdowns became the new normal, businesses and consumers were forced to go digital, providing and purchasing more goods and services online,” she said.
This is reflected in the DTI’s Business Name Registration System, which revealed a significant increase in the number of online sellers who have registered their businesses in 2021.
This scenario, she said, is expected to aggressively continue this year and beyond. “We want to see more people selling online. It’s actually not e-commerce. It’s now ‘quick commerce.’ You want it, you get it,” Pacheco added.
The trend has also since raised e-commerce’s share of global retail trade from 14% in 2019 to about 17% in 2020. Robust growth in these sectors is also expected in the coming years, as more internet users start to join online trading in the digital age.
Cryptocurrency to also grow rapidly
Meanwhile, Ron Benito, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Frenetic Inc., believes in a future where all people would be using cryptocurrency, except for those who don’t have access online. He added that the movement for cryptocurrency grows rapidly across the globe and in the Philippines as well.
“The adoption [of cryptocurrency] is quite high” as it became easier to download an app than to make a bank account physically, Benito added.
To ensure the security of users’ accounts and money, he said Filipinos must clearly identify what a reputable online trading platform is, which can be defined in one way — “the more volumes you have, [the more] your money is safer.”
To allow the e-commerce industry to grow larger in the Philippines, Benito added, “What we need is simple regulation. The simpler the regulation, the better for the market.”
He lauded the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas as one of the “proactive” agencies pushing regulations on cryptocurrency.
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Disclaimer: This article is for news and informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial or investment advice or an endorsement of any cryptocurrency or platform. Crypto-assets are highly speculative and involve significant risks. Readers should verify the regulatory status of crypto service providers with the BSP and the SEC before making any investment or transaction.
