Building Confidence: E-commerce and Development 2000

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Foreword
by
Rubens Ricupero
Secretary-General of the UNCTAD

Full version:
180 pages 1.2MB
pdf (English only)
UN Doc. N°:
UNCTAD
SDTE/MISC.11
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E-commerce
and
Development Report 2004

E-commerce
and
Development Report 2003

E-commerce
and
Development Report 2002

E-commerce
and
Development Report 2001

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Electronic commerce is quickly emerging as a particularly visible and spectacular incarnation of globalization. At this stage, it is still too early to say whether electronic commerce will narrow or broaden the gap between rich and poor. However, it is safe to say that the rapid expansion of electronic transactions constitutes a major opportunity for trade and development: it can be the source of a significant number of success stories by which developing countries and their enterprises can reach new levels of international competitiveness and participate more actively in the emerging global information economy.

For this purpose, the international community will need to support the efforts of developing countries to better understand and master the various aspects of electronic commerce. Such aspects will be technical, economic, legal and regulatory, as well as social and cultural. Over the last few years, UNCTAD has progressively built its reputation in the field of electronic commerce by fostering such inter-disciplinary approaches, as well as, by providing its members with the necessary support to stimulate direct and pragmatic exchanges of experiences among governments, enterprises and all components of civil society involved in electronic commerce and related activities.

This approach has been pursued not only in the context of preparations for UNCTAD’s 10th Conference (Bangkok, February 2000), but also for the Year 2000 session of the United Nations Economic and Social Council ECOSOC (New York, June 2000). It is to be expected that, as its profound macro-economic and social implications start to be better understood, electronic commerce will remain an important item on the international agenda for still quite some time. May this publication contribute to enrich the debates on the development dimension of electronic commerce, and help build a global knowledge society in which all countries and cultures can find reasons to hope and possibilities to prosper.

Building Confidence: E-commerce and Development

Table of Contents

Chapter 1. E-Commerce and Development
  Introduction - Convincing Evidence?
  Section I - Definitions, Facts and Figures
  Section II - In Search of a Working Definition of E-Commerce
Chapter 2. Selected Cross-Sectoral and Sectoral Issues
  Section I - Fiscal Aspects of E-Commerce
  Section II - Legal Aspects of E-Commerce
  Section III - Electronic Commerce in Transport Services
  Section IV - E-Commerce and Financial Services
Chapter 3. The State of E-Commerce
  Section I - Inequality and Inequity In E-Commerce
  Section II - E-Commerce in Africa
Chapter 4. An Agenda for Action
  Section I - Action at the National and Regional Levels
  Section II - Some Multilateral Dimensions of E-Commerce
  Conclusion: Promoting E-Velopment To Build and Disseminate Knowledge
                  Globally: Building Confidence

Download 180 pages 1.2MB pdf (English only)
UN Doc. N°: UNCTADSDTE/MISC.11