Thai SMEs link to world

Gao Wenkuan, economic and commercial counselor of the Chinese embassy to Thailand, Timothy Leung, head of business development of Alibaba.com, Banthoon Lamsam, KBank chairman of the board, Liang Minjun, vice-president of Alipay International, and Nuntawan Sakuntanaga, director general from the department of international trade promotion at the Ministry of Commerce of Thailand (from left) attend a signing ceremony of strategic cooperation agreements between KBank, Alibaba and Alipay in Bangkok on Thursday. [ZHAO YANRONG/CHINA DAILY]

Alibaba teams up with leading local bank to provide cross-border payment channel

Small and medium-sized entrepreneurs in Thailand who are clients of a leading bank in the Southeast Asian country, Kasikornbank PCL, can export their products to more than 240 countries and regions through Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

Alipay, China's largest third-party online payment service provider, will build an online cross-border payment receipt channel for Thai SMEs to enter the Chinese market, under a strategic cooperation agreement signed in Bangkok on Thursday.

About 2 million SMEs are registered in Thailand, but only about 40,000 sell their products overseas, said Nuntawan Sakuntanaga, director-general of the department of international trade promotion at the nation's Ministry of Commerce.

"SMEs have limited resources for trading globally, such as skilled e-commerce staff, distribution channels, market information and financial support. We have been developing services to meet the SMEs' requirements," Nuntawan said.

In cooperation with the trade promotion office, Alibaba opened its first overseas e-commerce school in Bangkok in November 2012. Thousands of Thai e-commerce staff have been trained since then, said Timothy Leung, head of business development at Alibaba.

"In today's fast-changing global economy, buyers are faced with shorter product cycles so their requirements also often have to be met instantly. Thai suppliers must adapt to this change in global sourcing in order to fulfill buyers' demand promptly and stand firm in the competitive export market," he said.

"We are pleased to work with Kasikornbank to enable more Thai SMEs to experience the major advantages of e-commerce, which are high efficiency and low cost," Leung said.

The arrangement allows Kasikornbank's customers to access a broader global and domestic market at a lower cost in industries ranging from agriculture to jewelry, textiles, wooden furniture, food and beverages, and cosmetics.

Moreover, Kasikornbank's K-Payment Gateway, its online payment service, is integrated with Alipay, which builds an online cross-border payment receipt channel for corporate customers of the Thai bank.

About 4.7 million Chinese tourists visited Thailand in 2013, accounting for 18 percent of the total international visitor arrivals. Thai products are well-received by Chinese consumers, said Liang Minjun, vice-president of Alipay International.

"Thailand has the 10th-largest population of Internet users in the world. They are interested in selling products and attracting tourists online. With the Internet awareness, I believe the future of e-commerce in Thailand is very bright," Liang said.

Banthoon Lamsam, chairman of the board of Kasikornbank, said China's trade with Thailand and with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as a whole has been developing rapidly.

Sino-Thai trade reached $65 billion in 2013, making China the largest trading partner of Thailand with 13.6 percent of Thailand's total trade value during the year.

The arrangement "is the first time a financial institution in Thailand has established cooperation with Alibaba and Alipay. These tie-ups are expected to create more opportunities for SME customers of our bank to enter the global market and gain access to the Chinese consumer market," Banthoon said.