Daraz Nepal on Sunday organised Daraz Summit, its annual flagship event in Kathmandu.

The one-day event brought together digital thought leaders under one roof to discuss the development of the e-commerce industry in Nepal and its prospects and challenges.

Speaking at the summit, Aanchal Kunwar, managing director of Daraz Nepal, said that the Covid-19 pandemic was a catalyst to increasing the growth rate of e-commerce in Nepal more than anticipated.

“We have empowered 15,000 sellers and served 1.5 million customers in 101 cities every month,” she said. “We have a vision of uplifting the community,” she said.

Ganesh Prasad Pandey, secretary of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, said e-commerce platforms have helped customers to compare prices before buying.

“E-commerce platforms like Daraz have helped not only customers but small and medium-scale entrepreneurs as well build marketing capacity to sell their goods and services,” he said.

But still, there are many problems in the sector, said Pandey. He requested the e-commerce marketplaces to do fair business while maintaining self-discipline.

Pandey also requested the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology to facilitate with the postal and google codes that will benefit all—the consumers, governance system and product delivery cycles.

Omesh Lal Shrestha, managing director of CAS Group of Companies, said that within a decade there has been a huge transformation in technology in Nepal.

Speaking during the session ‘From Conventional Commerce to E-commerce in Nepal’, Shrestha said that the data transformation growth increased with 3G and 4G network expansion.

“There has been a huge growth in e-commerce platforms and digital payments due to the expansion of 3G and 4G networks,” he said. “As the number of digital customers is increasing with the growth in service and transaction, there is a need to focus on digital security,” Shrestha said.

Ambica Shrestha, president of Dwarika’s Group of Hotels and Resorts, said that despite the losses wrought by Covid-19 in the tourism sector, the pandemic has sped up digital transformation and technologies.

Addressing the session ‘From Conventional Commerce to E-commerce in Nepal’, Shrestha said that different means of social media and online services have changed the landscape of the tourism industry as well. “We can now attract domestic and international tourists through social media platforms. Social media is helping to tell people about the beauty of Nepal,” she said.

Guru Prasad Poudel, executive director at Nepal Rastra Bank, said digital payments have played an important role in all sectors like agriculture, health, education, energy, tourism, finance and urban infrastructure.

According to Poudel, there are 10.2 million digital wallet users in the country, 10.7 million mobile banking users and 1.6 million internet banking customers.

“Monthly transactions worth Rs10 billion are being done from quick response (QR) payments while Rs15 billion worth of transactions are being done through e-wallets monthly,” said Poudel, addressing the session ‘From Conventional Commerce to E-commerce in Nepal’.

He said that more than Rs80 billion is being withdrawn every month from 4,500 ATM counters across the country.

Suresh Shrestha, director of Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer section at the Department of Industry, said that the government has to come up with conducive policies to accommodate new businesses. “E-commerce is not recognised under the Industrial Enterprise Act. But Daraz is accommodated as a service provider,” he said speaking at the session entitled ‘The Blending of Marketplace and Commerce for Digital Economy’.