E-commerce gets a boost
10 platforms and projects launched to spur SMEs
KUALA LUMPUR: Ten online platforms and projects have been launched to encourage Malaysians, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs), to get involved in e-commerce.
These include the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) Merchant Centre, the e-Halal Hub, the SME enterprise resources planning system and the Asia New Retail Membership Platform.
Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the PKFZ Merchant Centre was set up in PKFZ, Pulau Indah, to showcase online businesses by exhibiting the products there.
“The centre will have the capacity of 1,000 booths for the exhibition of products to promote Malaysia as the procurement hub for Asean,” he said during the launch of the online platforms and projects at the 1st Asian Retail and O2O Conference and Expo here yesterday.
Also present was Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.
Liow said the e-Halal Hub would widen the reach of these products to Muslim consumers worldwide.
“The e-Halal Hub has tremendous potential due to a growing Muslim population and their demand for halal products and services. Malaysia can provide the halal logistics to international businesses,” he said.
Dr Wee said these projects and platforms were specially designed to be the “springboard” for Malaysians, particularly SMEs, to get involved in e-commerce.
“It is also part of our efforts to provide a way for SMEs to expand their market, especially during a challenging world economy,” he said.
Dr Wee said he hoped that these online platforms and projects could be put to good use by young entrepreneurs, especially those in rural areas and who lacked start-up funds.
“By participating in e-commerce, it is a way for them to increase their income and improve their livelihood,” he added.
The 1st Asia Retail and O2O Conference and Expo is initiated by the Secretariat for the Advance- ment of Malaysian Entrepreneurs and the Federation of Malaysia Chinese Guilds Association.
The event is aimed at encouraging small businesses to embrace the change in the retail industry and to spur SMEs to move online.
The expo also serves as a platform to bring together SMEs and the hypermarket sector to drive the retail industry.