PRESS RELEASE
Cross-border and international trade remain focuses at this year’s Selangor International Expo (SIE) from October 20th to October 22nd, with this year being the second year the event is being held.
Organised by the Selangor Government through Invest Selangor, the SIE is one of the means through which the Selangor Government showcases the merits and benefits of investing in the state of Selangor to foreign investors, and is also a platform for local businesses to showcase their products or solutions.
“This year, the Selangor Government will be holding its second Selangor International Expo, bigger and better than last year, with more than 500 booths featuring local and international exhibitors, to connect local enterprises with like-minded individuals, as well as to showcase Selangor’s offerings as an investment destination to the world,” said Y.B. Dato’ Teng Chang Khim, Senior Executive Councilor of the State Government of Selangor.
“With Selangor’s focus on the Halal and Life Sciences industries, it goes without saying that there will be sections featuring the Selangor Bio Bay at Pulau Indah, as well as the International Halal Standard program, which will be launched by YAB Menteri Besar Dato’ Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali during the expo,” added Teng.
“This represents an opportunity for manufacturers, distributors, agents, importers, and exporters to meet and talk to their potential partners from Asean countries, as well as European countries. This is an opportunity for many businesses, and also an opportunity for our startup companies to expose or display their products and technologies to various potential visitors,” said Hasan Azhari Haji Idris, CEO of Invest Selangor.
The Southeast Asian E-Commerce Conference (SEAEC), will also focus on cross-border trade, and will be held on the third day of the SIE, with the aim of helping local entrepreneurs and merchants see that selling to a global market is no longer the ballpark of only large companies.
The conference, organised by the Selangor Information Technology and E-Commerce Council (SITEC) under the auspices of Invest Selangor and the Selangor Government, will feature panel discussions on the obstacles of regional cross-border trade, as well as potential solutions and strategies to address the issues. There will also be panel sessions featuring speakers from successful regional/international businesses, who will be speaking about potential business models, as well as their own experiences when venturing into the regional market.
“Malaysians are equipped with a unique advantage to excel in cross-border trade, considering our diversity in language and culture. The Southeast Asian market, with a population of 600 million, stands as an opportunity for Malaysians to bring this unique advantage into play,” said Y.B. Dato’ Teng Chang Khim.
“Some early movers have even taken to selling a niche product across borders, such as durians and 3-in-1 coffee sachets on international platforms such as Amazon and Alibaba. This shows that SMEs can also excel in selling across borders. Even on my own recent trade missions to Taiwan and the UK, I have seen that there is a wider market that can be made accessible to local SMEs with the right approach,” he added.
“This is the second year we are running this conference in conjunction with the Selangor International Expo. In fact, SITEC has been working together with Taiwanese e-Commerce merchants as well as more than 100 startups and exhibitors who will be showcasing their products in two pavilions across the three days of the expo,” said SITEC Chief Executive Yong Kai Ping.
Guest speakers
Speaking on the National e-Commerce Roadmap will be Wee Huay Neo, Director of the e-Commerce Enablement Division of MDEC, as well as Raja Nor Zihan, Director of eBusiness & IT Section for MATRADE.
Cross-border logistics will be discussed by Jason Kong, Managing Director of DHL e-Commerce Malaysia; Tan Chin Kiat, Assistant General Manager of the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ); Tommy Yong, Co Founder of iStoreiSend (ISIS); as well as Ng Chet Chiang, CEO of Logistics Worldwide Express (M) Sdn Bhd.
Speaking about establishing a successful regional e-Commerce brand will be Su Ann, lead for e-Commerce efforts of Google Malaysia; Rushdi Ahmad Siddiqi, CEO & Co-Founder of ZilzarTech Sdn Bhd, and Giulio Xiloyannis, Managing Director for Zalora.
Hans-Peter Ressel, CEO of Lazada; Bernard Lee, Senior Manager, Seller & Strategic Business Division of 11street; and Wong Mei Inn, Cross-Border Trade Country Head of eBay Malaysia, will be speaking on the topic of business models for cross-border e-Commerce.
“We at 11street believe that cross-border trade is one of the fastest growing segments of global trade today. By working together with SITEC, we believe that we are not only fulfilling the demands of local customers who want a mix of local and overseas products, we will also be enhancing the local e-Commerce ecosystem by enhancing the skill set of local sellers to be more competitive on a global scale. We look forward to working together with SITEC to bring in, as well as bring out, products to our customers,” said Eve Low, Manager for Cross-Border Trade of 11street, on 11street’s view of the conference.
Eng Sheng Guan, CEO of MOLPay; Chan Kok Long, Founder of iPay88; and Raj Lorenz, Group CEO of GHL Systems, will be speaking on the topic of regional payment innovations for use in cross-border e-Commerce.
“Cross-border payment has been a hot topic lately, and some statistics will be shared by our founder Mr Chan about the Asean region, and we look forward to meeting and discussing the challenges the industry faces as a whole to see how we can tackle those challenges. We really appreciate this platform that has been readied for us by SITEC and the Selangor State Government to gather all the players in the industry this way, and find the best ways to address the challenges to come,” said Calvin Yeap, Head of Marketing of iPay88 on what the company’s founder will be speaking about on the day of the conference.
“I believe that the topic of the session I am moderating, on payment innovations in the region, is a key portion of cross-border trade, and a lot of people will be looking forward to solutions that will be able to handle the challenge of handling payments across borders,” said Sunny Ooi, Co-Founder & Managing Director of ClickAsia Malaysia & Singapore, and also the moderator of the panel discussion on payment gateways.
“Card penetration in Southeast Asia is very low, and the region has multiple payment methods that are being used by locals. To penetrate this market, it becomes necessary to be able to provide methods of payment that are familiar to the target market. Another issue is the matter of retrieving revenue from another country. Knowledge of taxation and regulations will definitely be needed,” said Eng Sheng Guan, CEO of MOLPay, adding his thoughts to the matter.
Offering their views on the region’s cross-border e-Commerce trade situation, while offering perspectives from different nations will be Pawoot Pongvitayapanu, Managing Director of TARAD.com; Bjorn Pardo, Founder & CEO of Xend, as well as a representative from Taiwan.
“Hopefully, the conference will be able to provide the necessary information for our merchants to be able to excel and be able to sell across the region, and across borders. Our team is moving to establish an ecosystem where you can sell to the whole world from day one. We are going to see a new batch of e-Commerce players who will be facing down the challenges of selling across borders,” noted Yong.