SPH partners ICBC to develop Southeast Asia's first bilingual B2B e-commerce platform

SINGAPORE - Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) has entered into a partnership with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) to develop Southeast Asia's first bilingual B2B e-commerce platform that will enhance cross-border trade between China and Southeast Asia.

The bilingual e-commerce platform is supported by International Enterprise (IE) Singapore, and will provide one-stop B2B services in English and Mandarin to business enterprises in China, Singapore and other South-east Asian countries.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed on September 19 by Mr Julian Tan, Executive Vice-President of SPH's Digital Division, and Mr Zhang Weiwu, General Manager of ICBC.

Under the agreement, SPH and ICBC will maintain strategic co-operation, consolidate resources and experiences in their respective industries and other advantages of resources to broaden their co-operation. They will also consider the other party as their preferred partner for any business co-operation, financial related services and exhibitions, SPH said in a statement.

Mr Alan Chan, CEO of SPH, said: "Riding on the fast-growing e-commerce industry, we hope to partner ICBC to build the first bilingual cross-border e-commerce platform in South-east Asia that will help enterprises in the region expand market reach and promote growth in trade."

The media firm added that it will start a bilingual internet portal for enterprises from Southeast Asia and China to promote their products and services while tapping on the clients and services provided by the existing e-commerce platform or "e-Mall" managed by ICBC.

"SPH will recommend to ICBC established enterprises to co-operate in business developments in Singapore and other South-east Asian countries while ICBC will create conditions to facilitate cross-border e-commerce and also more leads for Chinese enterprises who are keen to establish e-commerce marketplaces in Singapore," a spokesperson said. "Both parties will jointly carry out the promotion and publicity matters to enhance the value and position of the cross-border e-commerce platform."

According to the MOU, SPH and ICBC will jointly organise an annual exhibition on the Internet economy to attract the participation of enterprises in Singapore, South-east Asia and China.

Mr Lee Ark Boon, CEO of IE Singapore, said: "This is a strategic collaboration, bringing together both companies' expertise and reach. This B2B e-commerce platform will foster greater regional trade and enable more Singapore companies to extend their digital reach into China and South-east Asia. This partnership builds upon Singapore's connectivity and reinforces Singapore's position as a trade and e-commerce hub."

ljessica@sph.com.sg