Post offices across the nation can be used as delivery points for products of digital marketplaces as the government is working to install e-commerce booths across all post offices.
"The Postal Department has 40,000 staffers and they will be utilized properly. We are now modernizing the department and installing e-commerce booths at all the post offices,” Mustafa Jabbar said.
The Posts and Telecommunications minister said this during the inaugural programme of a digital fair by the "Digital Commerce Village" project at a convention center in the capital on Sunday.
The Commerce Ministry and the E-Commerce Association of Bangladesh (e-CAB) are jointly implementing the project and a website titled www.digitalpolli.com has already been launched under it.
"The government is working to reach local products to different countries through digital platforms and the Digital Commerce Village will play a significant role in that regard,” Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi said at the inauguration.
The commerce minister also said that the rural population will benefit significantly if they learn to trade digitally and will have access to a broader market as the project has been working to boost local products in the global market.
According to the general secretary of the e-CAB Md Abdul Wahed Tomal, the project has already provided training to 200 loom producers in Manikganj on digital commerce.
“If the rural population starts trading digitally, it will automatically ensure an ecosystem that would thrive on digitization and empower local and rural entrepreneurs to play a significant part in contributing to the economy, and help the e-commerce sector grow further,” Shahab Uddin, the vice president of e-CAB told Dhaka Tribune.
The e-CAB top brass also pointed out that implementing the post office as delivery points will also help the government wing generate revenue.
According to the commerce minister, post offices should be utilized as e-commerce product delivery points so that entrepreneurs in the promising sector can have a rapid boom and post offices across the country can revive.
"The post offices are no longer used to send letters and remain inoperative to a certain extent, hence, they can be used in a new manner, catered to delivering products for the growing e-commerce sector,” Tipu Munshi said.
According to e-CAB official reports and industry insiders, online sales rose about 70% in 2020 from the previous year, and the market size of the industry stood at nearly $2 billion as of August that year.
Sahab Uddin estimates that the valuation of the sector in 2021 might have crossed Tk20,000 crore, which is about $2.32 billion.
By 2023, the market is predicted to reach a size of $3 billion.
The posts and telecommunications minister echoing the commerce minister said that the demand for post offices will increase keeping pace with the growing digital commerce of the country.
The postal department has recently introduced postal cash cards that can be used at 1,400 ATM booths of 26 banks.
The Postal Department has converted 1,863 post offices into IT-based rural post offices and under the automation project, daily transactions of savings banks are being conducted digitally in 71 major post offices.
Postal life insurance premiums can now be deposited online and an e-commerce service has been launched in 400 post offices.
Currently, there are about 9,000 post offices across the country.