Shah Alam, 18th February 2016 – The Selangor Information Technology & E-Commerce Council (SITEC), with the support of industry partners and Invest Selangor officially launched Malaysia’s very first E-Commerce awards at the Selangor Digital Creative Centre in i-City, Shah Alam.
Attended by E-Commerce industry players & merchants, the media, and members of the public, the event was officiated by Guest of Honour YB Dato’ Teng Chang Khim (Committee Chairman of Investment, Industry & Trade, and Small & Medium Enterprises (SME) and Transport).
“Trendwise, cross-border trading looks set to be big this year, with the government increasing efforts to promote cross border trade,” said YB Dato’ Teng about current trends in trade and commerce
“E-commerce is a great vehicle to boost exports and promote Selangor as a trading hub as it closes the gap that traditional selling is limited by, in that buyers need to travel to Malaysia, while online buying cuts down massively on transportation. Furthermore, the massive ASEAN market is projected to comprise over 620 million people, with the region boasting over US 2.6 trillion GDP,” he added.
He also shared that Selangor is taking decisive and swift action to take advantage of the 2Economic Community agenda by aggressively promoting cross-border trading.
“We are glad that there are increased efforts by industry players to reinvest in Selangor to further enhance our logistics and transportation facilities. For example, big e-commerce names such as Lazada and Photobook are reinvesting funds and efforts to expand their warehouses and/or new offices” he noted.
YB Dato Teng further added that logistics providers are increasing the size of their fleets to cope with increasing domestic demands, which is a strong indicator that e-commerce is rapidly picking up in Selangor and Malaysia, based on these developments.
“All these, and more, are part of Selangor’s maturing e-commerce ecosystem, which shows Selangor is ripe as a springboard to explore cross-border trading within the AEC, as well as the international community.
YB Dato Teng then shared insights into the local scene, stating that there has been a rise in e-marketplace players such as 11street, GEMFIVE, Logon and Shoppu.
YB Dato Teng also noted that mobile technology seems to be on the rise in general technological trends as more Malaysians are becoming increasingly connected through mobile devices, making the mobile marketplace a very lucrative destination for e-commerce players, as can also be seen in the steady rise of mobile-only marketplaces that are very app-centric and focuses on a customer-to-customer experience (as opposed to the Business-to-Customer experience).
Chief Executive of SITEC, Mr. Yong Kai Ping, then took the stage to speak more about the Online 100 programme (Click here for more details)
Mr Goh Boon Peng, E-Commerce Class Manager of SITEC, then introduced and explained more about the Malaysia Top EC Merchant Awards 2016 (refer to attached Info Sheet for details).
The panel of judges were then revealed, followed by a Q&A session as the panel of judges and organisers took questions from the floor. The Malaysia Top E-Commerce Merchant Awards 2016 was then officially launched together with YB Dato’ Teng Chang Khim.
Attendees and staff were then treated to a symbolic ‘Prosperity Tossing’ event (Yee Sang), after which lunch was served.