THE digital economy needs to have a conducive environment for trading given that it provides new opportunities, in addition to greater participation, to companies of all sizes, the World Trade Organization (WTO) and World Bank (WB) Group said.
In a joint policy note titled “The Role of Trade in Developing Countries’ Road to Recovery,” the WTO and WB said that making digital trade even more accessible “remains a complex endeavor.”
This, despite digital trade opening up new opportunities for the business sector amid the pandemic. The report noted that developing countries are having more engagement in digital trade as exporters of high-value digital services.
The intergovernmental organizations noted that digital trade requires modern telecommunications infrastructure and specific digital skills and entrepreneurship, apart from a favorable business environment.
In addition, the report cited the importance of an efficient trade facilitation and logistics for e-commerce deliveries.
Both organizations said it would also bode well for the digital trade to have international rules.
“Preferential trade agreements [PTAs] have been at the forefront of global digital governance. Rules on digital trade are growing in both scope and depth, as well as in importance in trade negotiations, both at the regional and bilateral level,” they said.
The provisions include the “applicability of WTO and PTA rules to e-commerce, to the non-discriminatory treatment of like
digital products, as well as commitments not to impose custom duties on digital products and to liberalize digital trade in services.”
Cross-border data policies
The WTO and WB also mentioned the importance of putting up a regulatory framework for digital policies, including cross-border data governance and platform regulation.
Earlier, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) also said that the global community should enable digital data to flow freely across borders, raising the need to develop an international framework to allow such activities.
“It is more important than ever to embark on a new path for digital and data governance,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said. “The current fragmented data landscape risks us failing to capture value that could accrue from digital technologies and it may create more space for substantial harms related to privacy breaches, cyber attacks and other risks.”
In the Philippines, the National Privacy Commission urged the local companies to use tools that can integrate data management and cross-border transfer standards across the region, including Model Contract Clauses (MCCs) and Data Management Framework (DMF).
According to NPC, MCCs are voluntary standards that Asean companies may enforce in legally binding contracts to make sure customer data are protected during cross-border transfers.
“Meanwhile, the DMF is a voluntary and non-binding guidance for Asean businesses to establish a data management system and governance structure that appropriately safeguard different kinds of data,” the privacy agency noted.