Riyadh: In her opening address, Vice Minister of Commerce and CEO of the National Competitiveness Center Dr. Eiman Al-Mutairi noted that Vision 2030, launched by His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, has driven an unprecedented transformation of the Saudi economy, making it markedly different from the past. During her participation in the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Task Group on Measuring the Value of E-commerce session, hosted by the World Trade Organization (WTO), Al-Mutairi explained that the Kingdom is working with UNCTAD to develop a framework to measure all forms of e-commerce in Saudi Arabia. This includes domestic and international e-commerce, as well as Business-to-Consumer (B2C), Business-to-Business (B2B), and Business-to-Government (B2G) transactions. The goal is to fully understand the value of Saudi Arabia's rapidly growing e-commerce sector, which is projected to reach about $15.4 billion by the end of 2025 . According to Saudi Press Agency, she added during the session, which was attended by Deputy Director-General of the WTO Johanna Hill and Director of E-commerce and Digital Economy in UNCTAD Torbjörn Fredriksson, and moderated by Senior Data Scientist in UNCTAD Dr. Siriphan Wichaidit. Fredriksson said that the Kingdom's support for the Group on Measuring E-Commerce (TG-eCOM) will strengthen official e-commerce statistics, enable the development of digital economy policies inside and outside the Kingdom at the global level, and help build the databases needed to understand the state of e-commerce worldwide. Al-Mutairi shared that presenting this model at the World Trade Organization enables countries to keep pace with the major transformation that e-commerce is bringing to the global economy, capitalize on the sector's immense opportunities, and provide new growth engines for small and medium enterprises, while expanding inclusivity across all regions and demographics. She pointed out that keeping pace with the sector's growth requires robust systems to ensure smooth transactions and efficient logistics, as well as reliable digital payment systems. This comes at a time when digital ordering represents nearly 20% of global retail activity, and the market size is expected to reach $3.6 trillion by 2025. The Kingdom previously signed an agreement with UNCTAD to measure e-commerce and digital trade, aiming to enhance the Kingdom's leadership in the digital field and develop e-commerce and digital policies that strengthen its global competitiveness. The NCC has effective partnerships with international organizations to benefit from their practices and experiences in improving and developing the Kingdom's competitiveness. UNCTAD is one of the center's most prominent partners, as the international organization provides support for policymaking across all aspects of development.
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