‘Pos Malaysia should work with China Post on e-commerce logistics hub’
NANNING: The International Trade and Industry Ministry will meet with Pos Malaysia Bhd soon to discuss the setting up of an e-commerce logistics hub in collaboration with China Post.
Second International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan said it was high time for Pos Malaysia to transform its operations into an e-commerce logistics provider, similar to that of China Post.
“When I return to Malaysia, I want to talk to Pos Malaysia immediately to convert Malaysia into an e-commerce logistics hub. I got this inspiration from the China Post,” he said after the signing of two memoranda of understanding (MoUs), here, yesterday.
“Normally, logistic companies will go to places that they can make money from, but China Post goes to both the urban and rural areas to serve the poor. They have social responsibility,” he said.
Earlier yesterday, the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) signed a MoU to pave the way for Malaysian enterprises to enter the China market.
The MoU, which was signed between Matrade, China Post Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region branch and KCO Logistics and Distribution Services Sdn Bhd, was expected to enhance market access of Malaysian companies, especially in the huge untapped rural market in China.
“The cooperative relationship between the mentioned parties is aimed at improving the business environment and promote more effective market access by Malaysian companies.
“This can be done through the establishment of Malaysia Pavilion in China Post e-commerce portal ule.com and marketed through China Post’s offline stores by leveraging on China Post’s platform and networks in China.
“The area of cooperation includes the establishment and operation of Malaysia Pavilion in China Post’s online and offline platforms,” Ong added.
He said ule.com was a rural ecommerce platform connecting the offline outlets with online or mobile services and supported with the extensive logistics network of China Post.
He said the efforts would help boost awareness on Malaysian products and brands in China.
“As the second largest global economy with a total population of 1.37 billion people, China remains our focus export major target due to its larger demand and it offers vast business opportunities for Malaysian companies,” said Ong.
Another MoU was signed between Hernan Corporation Sdn Bhd, a company that exports durian-based products, and Shanghai Miss Durian Food Co Ltd, a company involved in the import and export business.
The MoU was to enable the export of durian paste and durianbased products to China.
The MoUs were signed in conjunction with the 14th ChinaAsean Expo (Caexpo), here, yesterday.
The annual four-day expo, which was started here in 2004, is a platform to promote cooperation between China and Asean in trade, investment and tourism.
The theme for this year’s Caexpo is “Jointly Build the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, Promote Regional Economic Integration through Tourism”.
Trade between Malaysia and China expanded by 27.7 per cent to RM163.02 billion in the first half of the year, with higher imports from China in petroleum products, electrical and electronic products as well as machinery, equipment and parts.
On Monday, he said bilateral trade between Malaysia and China was expected to increase to US$160 billion (RM671.7 billion) by 2020.
For last year, Ong said trade between the two countries was US$87 billion, and was confident that it would increase to US$100 billion this year.
“Malaysian companies should venture into the automotive sector in China as it is huge.”
He said the Malaysian automotive market was smaller, compared with China, and had only recorded a sale of 580,000 units, compared with 28 million units in China. Arfa Yunus