Malaysia has emerged as one of the largest e-commerce markets in South-East Asia alongside Singapore and Indonesia, according to eBay Inc’s report, Commerce 3.0: Enabling Asean Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
The report noted that intra-Asean trade flows between Malaysia and Singapore were the highest in the region, generating almost half of total online sales.
“eBay commercial sellers in Malaysia have generated more than US$10,000 (RM36,273) in 2014, with Selangor being the highest, followed by Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Johor and Perak,” the report said.
A separate report said consumers in Asia-Pacific would spend more on online purchases than those in North America, making it the largest regional e-commerce market in the world.
This year alone, business to consumer e-commerce sales are expected to reach US$525.2bil in the region, compared with US$482.6bil in North America.
Separately, the US-Asean Business Council, Procter & Gamble (P&G) and eBay have been working together to help upgrade Asean SMEs’ competitiveness.
They have joint discussions to support regional integration efforts in conjunction with the 2015 Asean SME Showcase and Conference.
P&G is also heading a public-private partnership to help Asean SMEs become more competitive, by establishing its Leadership College for SMEs in Malaysia.
US ambassador to Asean Nina Hachigian said the removal of non-tariff barriers would help Asean SMEs grow as regional and global companies.
“For Asean to unlock its full potential, it needs to realise its vision of a single market and production base.
“However, the success of an Asean community depends on the success of SMEs,” she said at the launch of P&G’s Leadership College for SMEs.
Meanwhile, eBay’s head of government relations for South-East Asia, Wee Choo Hua, said Asean had the opportunity for growth in Internet-enabled commerce.
“The share of newcomers on eBay is much higher than the equivalent share for traditional sellers, reaching 24% in Asean,” he said.
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