2nd edition of E-commerce summit kicks off on Sept. 17

CAIRO – 17 September 2019: The second edition of the E-commerce Summit kicked off on Tuesday, Sep. 17, in Egypt.

The summit was inaugurated by CEO of Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) Hala el-Gohary, and organized by robusta, which supports the provision of technology and technology solutions for multiple sectors.

A number of deputy ministers, government and major private sector companies' officials, and entrepreneurs attended the summit, with the participation of a large number of Egyptian and international companies in more than 15 different sectors.

In her opening speech, Gohary said that the number of dealers on E-commerce platforms all over the world reached about 1.8 billion people by the end of 2018, and the number is expected to increase to mark nearly a quarter of the world population.

She added that the number of internet users in Egypt reached nearly 40 million, which affects the growth of the E-commerce sector locally, pointing out that the sector has been growing for two years.

“Egypt ranks the highest among its peers in the MENA in internet use. That’s why solid measures, such as 5 percent subsidies on exports for e-commerce businesses and technical support for rising, have been implemented,” CEO of ITIDA stated.

“There are government incentives to support e-exports as well as startups, where the authority embraced about 16 percent of startups in Egypt, and launched several important initiatives to support creativity, entrepreneurship and youth training,” Gohary added.

The second E-commerce summit aims to identify the latest innovations and global trends in the field of digital transformation and its impact on the Arab region, and open the door for dialogue between the government and the private sector through a single platform that brings together the most important players and influencers in E-commerce and digital transformation.

The second edition of the summit mainly focuses on discussing three main axes, including strategies for working in E-commerce and the latest global trends, and payment methods and logistics, one of the most important services driving the digital trade.

The third axis covers the purchasing experience of the customer and how to develop it to cope with the global digital transformation by exploiting the latest technological innovations.