The annual Southeast Asia E-Commerce Conference 2016 (#SEAEC2016) was held last Saturday, October 22, featuring industry experts from leading companies such as Lazada, Google, DHL e-Commerce, Zilzar, and many others, with the theme this year being “Unleashing the Power of Cross-border Trade”.

The organisers of the event, the Selangor Information Technology and E-Commerce Council (SITEC), was tasked by the Selangor State Government, under the secretariat of Invest Selangor Bhd, to encourage startup company growth, encourage brick and mortar SMEs to take their businesses online, and to develop Selangor as the regional trading hub for e-Commerce.

This year’s conference, which was held on the final day of the annual Selangor International Expo 2016, an international trade fair for businesses and investors. Attended by over 400 people from various learning institutions, startups and SMEs, the conference aimed to promote cross-border trade within ASEAN and beyond, and to discuss issues that small and medium companies face when they expand their businesses across their countries’ borders and into the rest of Southeast Asia.

      

Beginning with a speech by Y.B. Dato’ Teng Chang Khim, Senior Councillor of the Selangor State Exco, who also officiated the event, the conference tackled issues that online merchants often faced with when taking their businesses online to access markets beyond their borders.

The main topics included establishing a successful regional e-commerce brand, logistics and supply chain challenges, rising e-commerce business models and new technological payment innovations for cross border ecommerce.

Ms Wee Huay Neo, Director of e-Commerce Enablement from the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) spoke about the 6 key thrusts of the National e-Commerce Strategic Roadmap, as well as the programmes that have been set in place to further those thrusts.

“The e-Commerce ecosystem is growing significantly, but more needs to be done. The robustness and buzz is definitely there. While cross-border e-Commerce is a challenge, more and more companies are getting ready for it. Let’s see how far we can go,” said Wee.

YM Raja Nor Zihan, Director of eBusiness and IT from the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE), also spoke about growing businesses to the global stage through eTRADE at the conference, and spoke about several initiatives and incentives to aid and reward enterprising SMEs that intend to sell across borders as well.

“With training programmes, incentives, and information resources, MATRADE stands ready to assist SMEs who wish to go cross-border. My advice for those still unsure, be aware of the opportunities present, especially today, do not hesitate, just take action, and remember to reach out for support,” said the MATRADE representative.

Noted was that Malaysia has one of the highest online penetration rates in the Southeast Asian region, with 66% of the population, 20 million people, online, while also seeing a consistent, steady growth in digital ad spending, with the segment industry growing by 20% in 2014.

This conference aims to help e-Commerce merchants reach out to a wider market, in accordance with the National e-Commerce Strategic Roadmap, as well as growing the Malaysian economy, considering e-Commerce has been acknowledged as one of the growth engines for the national economy.

SITEC regularly holds e-commerce education classes aimed at educating the general public. It’s ONLINE 100 and APPS 100 Programmes have been credited with the creation of over 200 e-merchants and generating over RM2 million in sales since it launched in 2015.