e-documentation and e-signatures for trade facilitation will be given top priority and will be reviewed within the next couple of weeks, State Minister of Finance, Eran Wickramaratne told the Sunday Observer.
He said there is no two words about the need to move on to electronic documentation and signatures to be competitive in global trade.
“We have listed this as a priority and will expedite the process to develop trade,” Wickramaratne said.
However, the State Minister declined to give a timeline for the enforcement of the legislation for e-documentation and signatures which was has been in place in Sri Lanka for over a decade, since the passing of the Electronic Transactions Act No. 19 of 2006.
Verite Research, a leading think-tank on policy research has time and again highlighted the importance of moving towards e-documentation and signatures from manual signatures and paper work.
It states that Sri Lanka can improve the competitiveness of its exporters by reducing processing times at the border. A proven method in this regard is the use of electronic document (e-document) processing platforms for trade.
Exporters too have lobbied for the enforcement of the law to improve export performance. National Chamber of Exporters President Ramal Jasinghe said e-documents and e-signatures are the latest trends in international trade.
“We in Sri Lanka should accept these changes as it will benefit us in terms of creating a paperless environment, convenience, facilitate the speed of transactions, increase efficiency with the overall objective of reducing costs and being competitive.”
Tea Exporters Association immediate past president Rohan Fernando said e-documents with e-signature are a common practice in most developed countries for transacting business.
This is currently practiced at online auctions and bank transactions for bill payments, bank transfers to individuals and even structuring periodic loan re-payments, electronically.
e-commerce is the way forward to reduce the time spent on documentation and travel to the place of transaction for authentication of documents. It will improve efficiency, security and time between transactions.
The security aspect, which is the main concern in e-commerce can be safeguarded via passwords and a few other options such as thumb or iris imprints. “In fast developing global commerce, electronic documentation and signatures are a must,” Fernando said.