The e-commerce market in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia will grow at an annual rate of 18.4 per cent to $148.5 billion by next year, according to a new report.
This compares with an average growth of 16.6 per cent globally, a report by Dubai CommerCity, the first dedicated e-commerce free zone in MEASA, showed.
The regional e-commerce sector is witnessing “significant growth, which is driven by the confidence of its business community and ecosystem”, Amna Lootah, assistant director general of Dubai Airport Freezone Authority and a board member at CommerCity, said.
“This has also been led by the continuously changing consumer behaviour and the adaptation of advanced technologies that played a key role in easing the overall consumer shopping experience.”
E-commerce transactions have boomed amid the coronavirus outbreak as movement restrictions to contain the pandemic prompted people to shop online.
The Gulf region alone registered a 214 per cent annual increase in cross-border online sales by June last year, CommerCity said.
The MEASA business-to-consumer products e-commerce market equates to about 2.5 per cent of the global B2C e-commerce market, it added.
South Asia represents the largest sub-regional e-commerce market, with India accounting for the bulk of sales in the MEASA region. The GCC is expected to register the highest growth between 2019 and 2022, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE – the Arab world’s largest economies – taking the lead at 39 per cent and 38 per cent annual growth, respectively.
“This report shows the potential growth expected to take place in the e-commerce sector. It will help local, regional and multinational companies to better understand the B2C product market in the MEASA region,” DeVere Forster, chief operating officer of Dubai CommerCity, said.
“It will also guide the regional government entities and industry bodies to explore potential developments that can better facilitate the e-commerce sector at a regional and global level.”
The findings of the report suggest that the affluent, young population and cross-border e-commerce platforms are the two strongest growth drivers of the e-commerce industry in the MEASA region.
Other factors include high levels of internet penetration and smartphone and social media adoption, government policies and ease of doing business.
However, for the MEASA region to become a competitive global player, the report suggests that there are key structural barriers that must be addressed by the public and private sectors.
It provides five broad strategic considerations to overcome key e-commerce barriers. These include a robust policy framework, consumer awareness and trust building, improved logistics and postal services, digital infrastructure and global collaboration.
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Your rights as an employee
The government has taken an increasingly tough line against companies that fail to pay employees on time. Three years ago, the Cabinet passed a decree allowing the government to halt the granting of work permits to companies with wage backlogs.
The new measures passed by the Cabinet in 2016 were an update to the Wage Protection System, which is in place to track whether a company pays its employees on time or not.
If wages are 10 days late, the new measures kick in and the company is alerted it is in breach of labour rules. If wages remain unpaid for a total of 16 days, the authorities can cancel work permits, effectively shutting off operations. Fines of up to Dh5,000 per unpaid employee follow after 60 days.
Despite those measures, late payments remain an issue, particularly in the construction sector. Smaller contractors, such as electrical, plumbing and fit-out businesses, often blame the bigger companies that hire them for wages being late.
The authorities have urged employees to report their companies at the labour ministry or Tawafuq service centres — there are 15 in Abu Dhabi.
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New schools in Dubai
Results
2.30pm: Park Avenue – Conditions (PA) Dh80,000 (Dirt) 2,000m; Winner: Rb Seqondtonone, Abdul Aziz Al Balushi (jockey), Helal Al Alawi (trainer)
3.05pm: Al Furjan – Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (Turf) 1,200m; Winner: Bosphorus, Dane O’Neill, Bhupat Seemar
3.40pm: Mina – Rated Condition (TB) Dh105,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Royal Mews, Tadhg O’Shea, Bhupat Seemar
4.15pm: Aliyah – Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (T) 1,900m; Winner: Ursa Minor, Ray Dawson, Ahmad bin Harmash
4.50pm: Riviera Beach – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 2,200m; Winner: Woodditton, Saif Al Balushi, Ahmad bin Harmash
5.25pm: Riviera – Handicap (TB) Dh2,000 (T) 2,000m; Winner: Al Madhar, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi
6pm: Creek Views – Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Al Salt, Dane O’Neill, Erwan Charpy
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WHAT ARE NFTs?
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are tokens that represent ownership of unique items. They allow the tokenisation of things such as art, collectibles and even real estate.
An NFT can have only one official owner at one time. And since they're minted and secured on the Ethereum blockchain, no one can modify the record of ownership, not even copy-paste it into a new one.
This means NFTs are not interchangeable and cannot be exchanged with other items. In contrast, fungible items, such as fiat currencies, can be exchanged because their value defines them rather than their unique properties.
Stamp duty timeline
December 2014: Former UK finance minister George Osbourne reforms stamp duty, replacing the slab system with a blended rate scheme, with the top rate increasing to 12 per cent from 10 per cent:
Up to £125,000 - 0%; £125,000 to £250,000 – 2%; £250,000 to £925,000 – 5%; £925,000 to £1.5m: 10%; Over £1.5m – 12%
April 2016: New 3% surcharge applied to any buy-to-let properties or additional homes purchased.
July 2020: Rishi Sunak unveils SDLT holiday, with no tax to pay on the first £500,000, with buyers saving up to £15,000.
March 2021: Mr Sunak decides the fate of SDLT holiday at his March 3 budget, with expectations he will extend the perk unti June.
April 2021: 2% SDLT surcharge added to property transactions made by overseas buyers.
