The UAE is the fourth most prepared developing economy for online commerce, according to a new index from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad). Unctad’s 2019 Business-to-Consumer (B2C) E-Commerce Index, which measures an economy’s preparedness to support online shopping, found the UAE fared highly in terms of internet usage and number of accounts “with room to improve for secure servers and postal reliability.” One sign is the purchase of the UAE online retailer Souq.com by Amazon in May 2017 for USD583mn, the report said. Another is the USD735mn Dubai CommerCity, the first dedicated e-commerce park in MENA. The ranking of 151 economies is calculated from the average of four indicators: account ownership at a financial institution or with a mobile-money-service provider; individuals using the internet; postal reliability; and secure internet users. The UAE was atop the highest proportion of individuals using the internet, at 95% of the population.