Aid for e-Trade: Accelerating the Global e-Commerce Revolution

Please join us for a public discussion on digital trade and development issues on the occasion of the release of the CSIS Europe Program’s working paper, “Aid for e-Trade: Accelerating the Global e-Commerce Revolution.” Particularly important for enhancing transatlantic economic potential, cross-border online trade as individuals and businesses of all sizes engage in trade by selling goods and services online is becoming a much noticed trade factor as a recent International Trade Commission study notes. Lowering the costs for companies to trade across borders, e-commerce holds extraordinary potential for expanding global trade, promoting small business exports and entrepreneurship worldwide, and boosting export diversification and international development. Yet much of the world and many businesses are still not connected to the web, and those that are have struggled to translate their connectedness into exports and economic gains. How can these challenges be overcome and how can developing nations’ transition to the digital era and e-commerce be accelerated in a coherent framework? The working paper, “Aid for e-Trade,” suggests such a framework, and our panelists will discuss the great opportunities that digital trade holds for development - both in emerging markets and the mature economies of Europe and the United States. Featuring Dr. Kati Suominen Adjunct Fellow, Europe Program, CSIS Dr. Joshua Meltzer Fellow, Global Economy and Development, Brookings Institution Mr. Fabrizio Opertti Chief, Integration and Trade Sector, Inter-American Development Bank Ms. Jennifer Sanford Senior Manager, International Trade & Energy Policy, Cisco Systems Moderated by Ms. Heather A. Conley Senior Vice President for Europe, Eurasia, and the Arctic, and Director of the Europe Program, CSIS 10:00 A.M. – 11:30 A.M. Monday, November 17th, 2014 CSIS 1st Floor Conference Room 1616 Rhode Island Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20036