The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) E-Commerce Program Office officially kicked off its one-day workshop on “Efficient Logistics Services for E-Commerce Driven Demand Chains” at the Banquet Hall, Philippine International Convention Center on 16 July 2019.
Opening the workshop, Executive Director Pauline Suaco-Juan of the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM) said that the advancement of technology, the internet has given e-tailers the capability to immediately transact with manufacturers and suppliers.
“Nothing beats convenience—a hassle free transaction with real time client feedback, there is bigger market reach compared to the traditional brick and mortar,” she added.
On the other hand, the Director of the Academy of Developmental Logistics, Mr. Samuel Bautista said that logistics must be integral for the growth of e-commerce in the country.
“It’s our role to ensure it’s moving seamlessly and swiftly,” quipped Bautista, reaffirming that the e-commerce industry is a continuous involvement between both public and private sector.
As part of the initiatives to capacitate the Micro and Small Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the Philippines, the workshop drew perspective from e-tailers on logistics issues that they encounter in the e-commerce industry.
Senior Private Sector Specialist of World Bank-IFC, Mr. Roberto Galang said that with DTI, the workshop aims to give light on how to grow the e-tailer sector and how to make doing business easier.
“But this time we have to reverse the process—instead of you listening to us, we’d like us listening to you,” Mr. Galang said opening the thinking session wherein the participants are grouped to identify and discuss the logistics issues and challenges of e-tailers.
“The idea here in this workshop is to provide different e-tailers with different solutions provided by different logistics companies so that we can really understand what different solutions can be provided to address the issues,” he added.
Also present were Mr. Jeffrey Francisco, Business Development Manager of DHL Express Philippines and several esteemed panelists from Shopee Philippines President Ms. Karen Perez, Air21 CCO and Shopinas President Mr. Reuben Pangan, as well as Lazada Philippines Business Development Head Mr. Petrus Carbonell to discuss the benefits of e-commerce.
At the end of the workshop, DTI Assistant Secretary Mary Jean T. Pacheco said “As we promote a digitally competitive and future ready Philippines, the government is now gearing up to identify recommendations and strategies for a new e-commerce roadmap that caters to actual issues being faced by e-commerce players.”
The E-Tailers’ Workshop is in conjunction with the 2nd LSPH Conference and Exhibition held last 15-16 July 2019 at PICC.♦
Date of release: 24 July 2019