E-Commerce
Consultations on the draft Bill [return to Legislation]

 

Commerce Division has a broad work agenda with respect to developing e-commerce in Guyana of which developing legislation is only one part. The broad purpose of this ongoing work is to devise and implement a strategy to encourage the development of e-commerce and e-business in Guyana to feed into a broader strategy aimed at encouraging the use of ICT to facilitate business.

 

Consultation on the Draft E-Commerce Bill

Consultations conducted over the last few years by the Government have revealed that there is concern in the business community that contracts entered into over the internet may not be legally binding and this is contributing to a reluctance to rely on the internet for more than just simple advertising. This is inhibiting the development of E-Commerce activity in Guyana as a vehicle for transforming traditional business models and extending the outreach of our firms in international markets. As such the E-Commerce Bill seeks to establish the legal environment for the conduct of electronic commerce and the processing of electronic transactions.

The text of the working draft of the E-Commerce Bill was compiled by staff of the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce to provide a basis for a draft Bill, and to facilitate discussion and consultation as to its contents. The Ministry welcomes comments on all aspects of the working draft. Stakeholders should consult the three documents to which links are provided below. These include:

1. Draft E-Commerce Bill (69 KB)
2. Summary contents page of Bill (31 KB)
3. Stakeholder discussion document (189 KB)

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The stakeholder discussion document is the key point of reference for the Bill. The document contains:

1. Background information on the importance of E-Commerce to Guyana’s economic development
2. Explanation of the purpose and origins of the Bill
3. A short bullet point summary of the main provisions of the Bill
4. A more detailed Article by Article explanatory memorandum
5. A summary of the parts of the Bill that require critical input from stakeholders to ensure that the provisions of the final draft are appropriate to the specific local conditions of Guyana.

Any questions that you may have with regard to the Bill can be directed to Kim Stephen at the Ministry of Tourism, Industry, and Commerce; Tel: 225 2280.