Experts urge Australian gov't to help local e-commerce businesses expand globally as Chinese gov't does

Governments must further facilitate the international expansion of Australian e-commerce ventures in order to compliment the global free trade climate, a group of leading Asian and Australian business leaders told the Boao Forum for Asia in Melbourne on Thursday.

Speaking at the Future of Globalization conference, business leaders from China, Australia and Indonesia have stressed the need for the federal and state Australian governments to assist small and medium enterprises (SMEs) capture a greater share of foreign markets, as the free trade climate continues to break down barriers across the world.

James Li, chief development officer of Chinese e-commerce group Didi Chuxing said other governments could look to China's lead to implement a similar, successful e-commerce environment for local businesses.

"(Government) policy is the most important factor to encourage the growth of e-commerce. We can see the open policy promoted by the government gave Didi the chance to grow so fast," Li told the forum.

Australia in particular is lagging behind, many of the experts argued, urging the government to back local SMEs in making it in major Asian markets such as China and, in the future, India.

"Cross-border e-commerce is a major, major opportunity," Australia Post CEO Ahmed Fahour said. "What governments are starting to do is developing infrastructure to support the future of e-commerce."

Damien Gance, CEO of Australian company Chemist Warehouse, said his successful venture into China was made easier by the local government's co-operation in broadening his company's horizons.

"(Governments need to) do everything they can do, and then get out of the way and let business grow," Gance told the forum.

"We have had a fantastic rise (in China) and the only time we had a misstep was when the government proposed legislative framework changes.

"At that time it put shockwaves in the market, but when they put the changes on hold, everything resumed as normal."

Radik Sali, CEO of supplement company Swisse, said that the Chinese government was a world leader in helping businesses grow and prosper in their local market.

"China is leading the way in this area," he said. "They're the most developed, globally in terms of free-trade. It's a completely different world to what we live in here in Australia.

"You have to think global, (and we succeeded because) we have a global mindset."

But while the panel urged the Australian government to facilitate globalization, they also stressed the need for Australian and other international SMEs to "think global" in order to take advantage of the worldwide marketplace.

"For whatever reason, Aussie small businesses are too domestically focused and not export-oriented. Alibaba should be an example for them... we have a lot to do in this country to take advantage of that," Australia Post's CEO Fahour said.

However, Managing Director of Alibaba Australia and New Zealand, Maggie Zhou said it was important not only for SMEs to have a global vision, but they must also work to better understand the different consumer landscape in foreign nations.

"Local merchants don't understand the Chinese consumer very well. If you want to break into the market, you need to acknowledge their preferences. If you can't do that, find a partner to help you," she told the forum.

Leading lawyer Scott Farrell from King & Wood Mallesons said that while "strategies are global... customers are local," understanding the local consumer climate was of paramount importance to SMEs looking to globalize operations. Endit