New Delhi, Aug 24 (Agency) Underlining the runaway success of Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is going to be a game-changer that will democratize the digital marketplace eco-system.ONDC is an initiative aimed at promoting open networks for all aspects of exchange of goods and services over digital or electronic networks. It is expected to make e-commerce more inclusive and accessible for consumers.Addressing the G20 Trade and Investment Ministers’ meeting held in Jaipur today via video link, Prime Minister Modi said that digitizing processes and the use of e-commerce have the potential to enhance market access.He said that the ‘High-Level Principles for the Digitalization of Trade Documents’ can help countries in implementing cross-border electronic trade measures and reduce compliance burdens.
Highlighting the challenges of the growth in cross-border e-commerce, the Prime Minister suggested working collectively to ensure equitable competition between large and small sellers. Modi also emphasized the need to address the problems faced by consumers in fair price discovery and grievance handling mechanisms.He stressed on paying more attention to MSMEs given their key role in the global economy.“MSMEs account for 60 to 70 percent of employment and contribute 50 percent to the global GDP”, he said.Modi said that India has integrated MSMEs into public procurement through the online platform – Government e-marketplace and has been working with the MSME sector to adopt the ethos of ‘Zero Defect’ and ‘Zero Effect’ on the environment.The PM highlighted that increasing MSMEs’ participation in global trade and global value chains has been a top priority of the Indian presidency.