Thai Firms Should Access Chinese Market Through E-Commerce Platforms, Says Minister
Liao Shumin
DATE:  May 11 2018
/ SOURCE:  Yicai
Thai Firms Should Access Chinese Market Through E-Commerce Platforms, Says Minister Thai Firms Should Access Chinese Market Through E-Commerce Platforms, Says Minister

(Yicai Global) May 11 -- Thai companies should enter the vast Chinese market through e-commerce platforms, said the Southeast Asian country's commerce minister, adding it is time for Thailand to learn from China as the source of online shopping boom.

Speaking at a training seminar entitled "Next Station: China" in the Thai capital city of Bangkok yesterday, Sonthirat Sonthijirawong said e-commerce would help more Thai products to reach Chinese consumers in the world's second-largest economy, according to state-run Xinhua News Agency.

Minister Sonthijirawong called e-commerce an innovative form of modern business model and said Thailand was astounded by the glory of Chinese e-commerce when 80,000 pieces of durians, about 200 tons, were snapped up by Chinese consumers on Tmall.com, the international trading platform of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., within 60 seconds.

The seminar, organized by the Thai-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and China Economic Information Service, affiliated with Xinhua, aims to introduce the success stories of China's e-commerce platform applications to Thai businesses and to build confidence and provide channel services for Thailand's high-quality products in the Chinese market.

China's e-commerce giant JD.Com Inc's experts  and senior managers shared their experiences and explained the company's business model and how to set up shops on its online platform at the seminar, which was attended by more than 700 participants from both countries' business and academic circles.

China's e-commerce platforms have strict review standards for the product quality of enterprises trading on the platform, Sonthijirawong said, adding that genuine consumer reviews can objectively reflect the pros and cons of products. Therefore, Thai companies opening online stores on China's e-commerce platforms will help increase their brand awareness and product competitiveness.

Many Thai companies see entering the Chinese market as part of their future development strategy and are eager to learn how to use those online platforms as a springboard to access the market in a fast and cost-effective way, he said.

The bilateral trade between China and Thailand can reach USD120 billion by 2020 from last year's USD73 billion, the minister said, adding, "E-commerce is the key for the two countries to reach this goal."

Editor: Mevlut Katik

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Keywords:   THAILAND,E-Commerce Platform,Online Shopping