Diagnosing the Policy Environment for Women-Led MSMEs in Cross-Border E-Commerce Trade

---

Women-led micro, small, and medium enterprises (WMSMEs) have the potential to benefit greatly from participating in cross-border e-commerce. This Policy Note looks into the challenges preventing WMSMEs from participating fully in the digital economy and cross-border e-commerce. It finds the Philippine policy landscape strong in (1) networks, representation, and visibility and (2) digital literacy, e-payments, e-commerce, and digital trade regulations. However, several challenges remain, such as discrimination on online platforms and issues with trade facilitation, logistics, and customs duties. Finally, the Note urges the government to address gaps in public-private sector coordination and WMSMEs’ lack of access to finance and capacity-building programs, low awareness of government policies and programs due to informality, and inability to scale up and sustain their e-commerce businesses.