The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) has unveiled a new electronic commerce (e-commerce) initiative to assist emerging economies in leveraging the rapidly growing $22.1-trillion market.

The global e-commerce market has increased 38% since 2013, with business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce markets growing to a respective $19.9-trillion and $2.2-trillion.

In line with the opportunities this presented, Unctad has launched its new eTrade for All platform to help close the divide between countries that are exploiting those opportunities and those that are not.

“By providing new opportunities and new markets, online commerce can help generate economic opportunities, including jobs,” Unctad secretary-general Mukhisa Kituyi says.

However, the opportunities remain askew, he says, pointing out that, while 70% of the population in Denmark, Luxembourg and the UK shop online, less than 2% of the population in Bangladesh, Ghana and Indonesia have the same privilege.

Unctad’s latest data shows that China is the world’s largest B2C e-commerce market and the third-largest B2B market, while the US, which has the largest B2B market, ranks second in terms of B2C sales.

Japan, Germany, the UK, Brazil, Russia, France, the Republic of Korea and India also rank highly as e-commerce markets.

“With strong involvement by the private sector – through a new private-sector advisory council – and with financial contributions from the governments of the UK, Northern Ireland, Sweden, Finland and the Republic of Korea, the eTrade for All initiative will support developing countries which express an interest in boosting their online commerce,” explains Kituyi.

eTrade for All focuses on seven policy areas, including e-commerce assessments, information and communications technology infrastructure, payments, trade logistics, legal and regulatory frameworks, skills development and financing for e-commerce for developing countries and countries with economies in transition.

The platform also hopes to raise awareness of the opportunities, challenges and potential solutions, including best practices, related to leveraging e-commerce in developing countries.