Thai-Chinese effort to broaden SME access

Thai-Chinese effort to broaden SME access

A strategic cooperation between Thailand's Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP) and the Chinese International Merchandise Exchange & Exhibition Co (IMX) is meant to expand e-commerce opportunities for Thai small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to sell to Chinese consumers.

This means 48,000 Thai SMEs will have access to over 1 billion consumers in China through IMX's integrated online cross-border trading platform.

Henry Chan, president at IMX, said Thai products are loved by Chinese consumers, especially the younger generation who have high purchasing power and prefer online channels

Thai SMEs can benefit from this platform, he said.

The three most popular Thai products are foods, such as dried and processed fruits and instant noodles; cosmetics, such as organic cosmetics, spa products or essential oils; and fashion items, offering affordable prices, modern designs and high quality.

"When combining our pioneering cross-border e-commerce and supply chain business model with Thailand's great products, we are about to create value to the economy, supporting the transformation into Thailand 4.0 by facilitating GDP growth," Mr Chan said. "IMX will help drive Thailand GDP by facilitating export growth."

Banjongjitt Angsusingh, director-general at DITP, said the e-commerce platform will increase Thai SMEs' access to one of the world's largest markets, China.

"This cooperation is a major tool to promote Thai products and services and boost trade collaboration between the two countries," Ms Banjongjitt said.

IMX has both an online e-commerce platform (www.kjt.com) and exhibition centres in China.

Through the cooperation agreement, IMX will facilitate SME access to the Chinese market. IMX, which operates four exhibition centres across China -- Tianjin, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Chengdu -- is a subsidiary of the Chinese conglomerate King Wai Group.

"While Thai SMEs grow business, local producers [such as rubber grower, rubber product producers in Thailand] will benefit from [e-commerce] activities. In the end, this cooperation will contribute to inclusive growth," said Ms Banjongjitt.

According to a Google-Temasek report, Thailand's internet economy is ranked No.2 in Southeast Asia, worth US$12 billion (391 billion baht) in 2018 out of a regional total of $72 billion. The local internet economy makes up 2.7% of GDP.

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