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Trade: Romanians use online trade less than the West
Alexandru Petrescu, the minister of communications and information society declared in Timisoara, on Tuesday, that although the volume of transactions made by means of online trade went up bhy 30% in Romania in 2018 compared to the previous one, the margin of use is too small compared to Western European practices. For that, laws concerning online trade at EU level should be uniformed.
“E-commerce grew in 2018 by 30% in transaction volume, compared to 2017. Today, electronic trade in Romania reached 3.5 billion euro and is still rising. At EU level, the market has 600 billion euro, with 67% in Western Europe, which shows we have a lot to recuperate to set up an equality level between Eastern and Western Europe. We should harmonize the part concerning laws. Until the end of 2019 we want to have a government decision on the promotion strategy and policies for online trade,” Alexandru Petrescu said.
According to the minister, who quoted the World Bank, trade has a 50% share in GDP, being a vital economic sector for Romania and EU, but any transaction in the online area can take place only in a climate of full confidence.
At the same time, the minister said that while in Western Europe, of 67% of citizens who use online trade, 40% buy cross border, in Eastern Europe and especially in Romania only 3% buy products and services from other countries.
The minister participated in Tuesday in the meeting “E-Commerce Interactive Dialogue”, organized by the ministry he is head of at Timis County Council. It was the 5th event organized in the county under the aegis of Romania's Presidency of EU Council. Representatives of various electronic trade operators in Romania and in 14 other EU countries.