Lopez: Asean trade ministers ink e-commerce deal

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE 

Trade leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) signed an agreement to boost trans-border electronic commerce transactions in the region.

The Asean Agreement on Electronic Commerce was signed Monday, a day before the official opening ceremony of the 33rd Asean Summit and Related Summits in Singapore, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said in a press briefing on Tuesday.

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Lopez said the agreement would facilitate cross-border e-commerce transactions and create an environment of trust for online transactions.

The agreement “institute rules that govern e-commerce that talks about cooperation in the field of information and communication technology, infrastructure, education technology competency, online consumer protection, e-commerce legal framework, electronic transaction security, electronic payment, competition, cybersecurity, and logistics to facilitate e-commerce,” Lopez noted.

The discussions for the agreement started last year during the Asean hosting of the Philippines and was concluded last July 2018, Lopez added. /cbb