Roundtable on “Electronic Identification in E-Commerce: Opportunities and Challenges” held

A roundtable on the topic of “Electronic Identification in E-Commerce: Opportunities and Challenges” was co-organized by the State Fund for Development of Information Technologies under the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies, the Data Processing Center, and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency.

The participants of the event discussed issues related to the introduction of electronic identification in e-commerce, the European Union experience in this field, compliance with the EU standards, as well as ways to address the existing problems.

Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Transport, Communications and High Technologies Elmir Velizade noted that significant steps have been taken in the field of e-signature and as a result of this, a seven-fold increase has been observed in the field of e-commerce in our country.

The Deputy Minister also stressed that a number of steps have been taken by the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies with regard to the formation of a digital ecosystem in order to expand e-commerce.

“Creating a modern infrastructure for the development of electronic commerce stands in the spotlight. As a result of this, the Azerbaijani Post has already started functioning as an international transit mail center. Today e-commerce products ordered from China are brought to Azerbaijan and after being processed by Azerpost as a transit mail, they are delivered to some 20 countries. I would like to note that although the popular trade platforms located in the US and China are used more in Azerbaijan for e-commerce, the use of local platforms is also expanding.”

Elmir Velizade said that the e-signature is one of the important components in e-commerce transactions.

“Today, the National Certification Services Center, established by the ministry, provides enhanced e-signature certificates to the business sector and citizens. As you know, work is underway on mutual recognition of e-signatures between Azerbaijan and Turkey. As a ministry, we are also interested in recognizing electronic signatures in other countries, in particular in European ones. In this regard, the e-signature legislation in Azerbaijan has been developed directly on the basis of the European directives. Work is underway to implement new projects,” the Deputy Minister added.

Speaking at the event, Acting Executive Director of the State Fund for Development of Information Technologies Azer Bayramov noted that e-commerce is one of the development trends of innovative business in the country. “At the initiative of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies, effective steps are being taken to develop e-commerce. The State Fund for Development of Information Technologies of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies attaches a particular importance to e-commerce projects and startuppers operating in this field. The Fund holds grant competitions to finance innovative projects in this area,” he said.

He also noted that in order to study international practice in e-commerce, international visits are organized and global events are hosted by our country. “It should be noted that an international event on e-commerce “Baku International E-Commerce Forum” was held for the first time in the CIS region in September this year. Some 400 representatives from 24 countries attended the Forum, which was co-organized by the European Union and the United Nations Trade and Development Organization,” Azer Bayramov said.

Speaking at the event, head of the department of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency Yusif Musayev noted that a special attention is paid to the expansion of activities carried out by business entities in the field of e-commerce.

Then, head of Information Technology Department at the Austrian Parliament Peter Reichstädter and head of Certification Services Center of the Data Processing Center Arif Mailov made presentations at the event.

Representatives of various state agencies, small and medium entrepreneurs, as well as startup heads attended the interactive roundtable.