Singapore's external trade body in bid to help SMEs via Internet

International Enterprise (IE) Singapore on Thursday announced partnerships with overseas e- commerce giants including U.S.-based Amazon, China-based T-mall and Malaysia-based Lelong, to give support to local SMEs to gain access to global and regional online platforms.

IE said it is adopting a two-prong approach to help companies capture growth from the entire e-Commerce eco-system. First is to help companies develop their own platforms or engage existing e- Marketplaces like Amazon, second is to support services including fulfillment services (logistics and payment), ICT-related services (data analytics, digital marketing and cyber security) as well as digital infrastructure (cloud services and data centers).

According to research by global management consulting firm AT Kearney and CIMB ASEAN Research Institute, the Asia Pacific region is poised to become the world's largest market for e-Commerce, with annual growth of 20 percent from 2011 to 2016, while that in ASEAN is estimated to grow at 25 percent annually. IE Singapore hopes that the new partnership will ease the listing process on these platforms and help local companies to seize the business opportunity.

"E-Commerce is a strategic tool to help SMEs expand globally. Our partnerships with the three e-Marketplaces will help SMEs lower barriers of entry and reduce operational costs, while accessing global markets quickly. By embracing offline-to-online channels, companies can diversify or complement their distribution channels," Teo Eng Cheong, Chief Executive Officer of IE said. Endi