Opportunity for local entrepreneurs to showcase products online soon
KOTA KINABALU: Local entrepreneurs in Sabah will soon have the opportunity to showcase their products to the world as the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries (MAFI) will be working with JD.com, one of the world’s top online retailers.
Agriculture and Food Industries Minister Datuk Junz Wong said that the Chinese e-commerce company, which currently had over 300 million active customers would help boost the local products’ industry.
“It is very timely for us to have this platform now. JD.com is as big as or if not bigger than the Alibaba platform. JD.com is coming to Sabah as they are interested in getting our products and they want to market it to the world, mainly in the China market. They are also selling their products to the Thailand and Indonesia market.
“How the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries (MAFI) is going to work with JD.com is by gathering all the local entrepreneurs and their products and then we would compile them in a list and find out the (necessary) requirements,” Junz told reporters after he was briefed by JD.com’s representatives at Wisma Pertanian Sabah on Thursday.
Junz said that MAFI would serve as a ‘vehicle’ to initiate the plan and that his ministry would also be working with other state ministries and agencies in doing so.
He revealed that Sabah would have to come up with 500 items that would be put up on the JD.com platform.
JD.com will sell all types of food products in its platform from frozen, fresh, live, cooked to even processed food.
Junz pointed out that the said 500 items were not only limited to food products as JD.com is also looking to sell other local products such as handicrafts or any products for practical use.
Junz said JD.com was better than the other online retailers as the company can opt to help the entrepreneurs set up their own brand in the event the entrepreneurs are unable to do so.
“If you have a good product but you don’t have the money to package it, JD.com would help you package it and they can help you to market and do the branding work,” said Junz.
However, if the entrepreneur wants to use his own brand and sell it on JD.com, he can still do so.
In other words, JD.com offers entrepreneurs flexibility on how they wish to market their product on the former’s platform.
In light of this, Junz urged all Sabahans to support their own Sabahan products as this would enable the industry to survive on its own.
He believes that the Sabahan products should be promoted in public places such as supermarkets, hotels, cinemas and many more.
Junz said that this would enable the state to identify the product with the highest potential.
Also present in the event was Tony Yang, the Head of Import and Export & Cross-Boarder Business of Southeast Asia BU for JD.com.