Singapore has assured Bangladesh of extending its utmost cooperation to build an ecosystem for the development of the e-commerce sector.    

The Ministry of Trade and Industry of Singapore gave the assurance while a Bangladesh delegation led by State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak sat in a meeting at the ministry on Thursday.   

The meeting focused on the overall development of the e-commerce sector of Bangladesh and effective measures for the expansion of the sector by building an ecosystem with the bilateral cooperation of both countries.   

It also discussed bilateral trade, business operation, and management, the safety of business information, digital platform based on artificial intelligence, cross-border payment system, and the highest security of data. 

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In the meeting, Zunaid Ahmed Palak presented the latest progress in the e-commerce sector of Bangladesh to the representatives of Singapore. 

Mentioning that the e-commerce sector has been expanding in through onlin banking, electronic money transfer, and using ATM cards, he said the size of e-commerce sector in Bangladesh was Tk 8,500 crore before March, 2020 and it has doubled during the Covid pandemic. 

The market of e-commerce might reach Tk 25,000 crore within 2023, added the state minister.   

Director, Emerging Markets Division at Ministry of Trade and Industry, Singapore Magdalene Loh, Global Adviser, Women and E-commerce Forum (WE) Saumya Basu, and President, WE, Nasima Akter Nisha, were, among others, present at the meeting.  

Zunaid Ahmed Palak left for Singapore Wednesday night to attend the four-day-long APAC Digital Innovation Congress-2022 scheduled for May 19-22.