"Gulf statistics" It organizes a regional episode on digital economics statistics

Muscat on June 23 / WAM / The work of the regional workshop on e -commerce and digital economy, organized by the Gulf Statistical Center for the Cooperation Council for the Arab Gulf States, was launched today, with the participation of representatives from the General Secretariat of the Cooperation Council, statistical centers, trade ministries, central banks and other government agencies in the GCC countries.

The two -day episode aims to enhance national statistical capabilities in the field of collecting and analyzing e -commerce data and digital economy, which contributes to setting economic policies based on accurate data and achieving Gulf statistical integration.
His Excellency Intisar Bint Abdullah Al -Wahibiya, Director General of the Gulf Statistical Center, said that recent years witnessed the growing e -commerce, which has become one of the main engines of the digital economy, and that the Gulf region had an accelerated share in this growth, driven by advanced digital infrastructure, young population growth, and the adoption of digital transformation strategies at national levels.
It indicated that UNCTAD reports for the year 2024 AD indicate that global e -commerce sales exceeded 27 trillion dollars in 2022, an increase of approximately 60% since 2016, while at the regional level it is expected that the volume of the e -commerce market in the Cooperation Council countries will reach 33.3 billion dollars in 2025, and 46.1 billion dollars by 2029, which represents an annual increase of 10%.
She added that this digital mutation imposes challenges related to measuring this growing activity with precision and effectiveness. The need for reliable and timely data has become more urgent than ever, to understand the contribution of e -commerce to gross domestic product, monitoring the digital gap, and supporting effective economic policies.
She explained that the Commercial Cooperation Committee of the Gulf Statistical Center was assigned to prepare an integral mechanism to build e -commerce indicators in the GCC states, and to spread information, and enhance transparency within the work of the executive plan to achieve the goals of the unified strategic framework for the countries of the Cooperation Council in the field of e -commerce, which is the recommendation that was strengthened in successive meetings with the electronic commerce team.
For its part, His Excellency Dr. Hajar Al -Hadawi, Director General of the Digital Cooperation Organization, affirmed that digital data has become the cornerstone of policy building, achieving sustainable development, and enabling individuals and companies to interact effectively in the digital space.
She indicated that enhancing the ability to measure the digital economy is not only a technical necessity, but a strategic component of building a comprehensive and prosperous digital economy, capable of creating jobs, stimulating innovation, supporting the growth of small and medium enterprises, and ensuring the integration of everyone, including women and youth, in future opportunities.
The first session of the work episode included a definition of e -commerce measuring and the digital economy, which is necessary to understand the reality of e -commerce and the development of appropriate economic and commercial policies, which is the process of collecting and analyzing data related to commercial activities that take place via electronic media, and includes the sale of goods and services via digital platforms, whether between companies or between companies and consumers or between consumers themselves to include the measurement determining the size and value of electronic transactions and the quality of goods and services Sporting and channels used (websites, applications, communication platforms), digital consumer behavior and purchase patterns.
As for the measurement of the digital economy, it refers to the methodological efforts to measure the various components of economic activities based on digital technology, including digital infrastructure and digital activities such as software, artificial intelligence applications, digital platforms and functions based on information and communication technology.
The session touched on the importance of measuring e -commerce and the digital economy in the Gulf Cooperation Council states, as well as the operational definitions of e -commerce, the digital economy and the role of measurement in supporting policy -making, economic diversification and regional cooperation.
The second session dealt with the Gulf Statistical Center project on e -commerce and the digital economy that comes within the efforts of the Gulf Statistical Center to raise the level of digital, digital -economic data, for the countries of the Council with the aim of building a unified statistical base that addresses e -commerce and the digital economy, which contributes to coordinating efforts between member states, and developing indicators that depend on firm standards.
The session reviewed the current status of national statistical centers in measuring e -commerce, digital economy, current data groups and gaps that were identified at the national level, in addition to recommendations related to institutional cooperation and the division of responsibilities.

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