Webinar on “e-commerce in Agriculture Sector for Rural Development & Transformation Sharing Experiences of Thailand ” was held on Tuesday, October 26, 2021. The event was jointly organized by the France Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIFB) and the Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific (CIRDAP) in collaboration with e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh (e-CAB) and the Cooperative Promotion Department (CPD), Thailand’s Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. The webinar started at 19:00 pm (Bangladesh Time) with an opening remark by the Chair, Mr. Syed Mahmudul Huq, President, CCIFB. The Chief Guest for the event was H.E. Dr. Mohammad Abdur Razzaque, Hon’ble Minister, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of Bangladesh. And the Special Guests included Mr. Tapan Kanti Ghosh, Secretary, Ministry of Commerce and Mr. Md. Mashiur Rahman, Secretary, Rural Development Cooperative Division. The webinar was moderated by Dr. Cherdsak Virapat, Director General, CIRDAP.
A brief introduction and background on the webinar were presented by Dr. Virapat and Mr. Chai Kongkaew, Director, Agriculture Sector Cooperatives and Farmer Groups, Cooperative Promotion Department (CPD), Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Thailand. The objectives of the webinar are to share knowledge and experiences on e-commerce in agriculture sector for rural development in Thailand and to take stock of Thailand’s experiences, to assess e-commerce readiness and to formulate a plan on pilot e-commerce in agriculture sector for rural development & transformation in Bangladesh.
The keynote presenter from Thailand, Ms. Jaruwan Jan-in, Director of Farmer Groups Development Group, Agriculture Cooperatives and Farmer Groups Development Division, Cooperative Promotion Department (CPD), Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Thailand delivered her presentation on “E-commerce Promotion in Thai Agricultural Cooperatives”. It was followed by two panelists, Dr. Voraprapa Nakavachara, Assistant to the President, Global Engagement, Digital and Innovative Economy, Faculty of Economics, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand, and Dr. Sommarat Chantarat, Development Economist, Puey Ungpakorn Institute for Economic Research, Bangkok, Thailand. From the Bangladesh’s side, the keynote speaker was Dr. F.H. Ansarey, Managing Director, ACI Limited, Bangladesh, and the panelists included Mr. Rezwanul Haque Jami, Head of e-Commerce A2i, Programme, ICT Division, Ministry of Commerce, and Mr. Waseem Alim, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Chaldal.
The webinar was broadcast live on Facebook throughout the event. The media partners for the event were ATN News, The Business Standard, Bhorer Kagoj and Bonik Barta.