Bangladesh needs to take additional steps to catch up with other countries in the cross-border paperless trade to boost sustainable and inclusive growth and development, according to State Minister for Finance Waseqa Ayesha Khan.

While traditional trade involves many paper documents and processes, digitalisation would reduce the time and costs associated with manual handling, courier services and delays caused by lost or misplaced documents, she said.

"Hence, further steps are needed to make the digital infrastructure secure and robust to facilitate the efficient settlement of international paperless trade."

She made the remarks at an event, titled "ICC Workshop on Digitalising International Trade of Bangladesh", at the Renaissance Dhaka Gulshan hotel in Dhaka yesterday, according to a press release.

The International Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh (ICCB) and the ICC Digital Standards Initiative (DSI) jointly organised the event.

The minister emphasised the instant, seamless and verified nature of digital records, which lead to faster and more secure transactions.

She also outlined the importance of catching up with others in the cross-border paperless trade, citing the fifth United Nations Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation.

Mahbubur Rahman, president of ICCB, said Bangladesh can streamline its trade processes by adopting the globally-recognised digital standards promoted by the ICC DSI.

"This efficiency can lead to faster processing times, lower costs and reduced errors."

The ICC DSI can help Bangladesh by utilising technologies like blockchain and artificial intelligence, which can lead to the development of new digital tools and increase trade efficiency, said Rahman.

"Trade digitalisation could help reduce incidents of data mismatch, like the recent export data discrepancy," said Muhammad A Rumee Ali, chairman of the ICCB Banking Commission.

He also pointed to cybersecurity and data protection as two of the most important areas for safe international digital trade.

Around 200 participants from different banks and other organisations attended the event.