The International Trade Centre (ITC) and Alibaba.com will team up for an initiative to help micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) bolster international exports and sustainability, according to a Tuesday (Nov. 9) press release.
Called the “Global Digital Trade Accelerator for MSMEs in Developing Countries,” the initiative will help MSMEs make better use of eCommerce platform opportunities.
In a video-conference speech, Daniel Zhang, chairman of the board and CEO of Alibaba Group, said many MSMEs have been looking into digital ways to do business and even improve their business models.
Digital trade has grown as a way to trade across the world. And Zhang added that the pandemic has made it more difficult to do global trade — that with new challenges, there will also be more opportunities.
According to Yi Xiaozhun, the ex-vice minister of commerce and former deputy director-general of the World Trade Organization, says eCommerce gives a way for developing countries to catch up with the trends going on in more major economies.
ITC is the joint agency of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations, which works on linking MSMEs with global markets, allowing them to help achieve the sustainable development goals of the UN through trade that helps the planet.
Companies in the project come from developing countries like Africa, Latin America and Asia. Some of them include Bolivia, Colombia, Ethiopia, Mozambique and Myanmar, and they span a large range of industries like food, beverage and consumer goods.
Alibaba.com’s President of North America and Europe John Caplan told PYMNTS’ Karen Webster recently that the smaller suppliers have been adversely affected more than larger ones.
Read more: Alibaba’s John Caplan: The Age of the B2B Digital Marketplace Is Upon Us
He said demand was high and that with logistics entangled in knots, container ships weren’t able to do their jobs.
Because of that, being fully digital has become essential to success.
He said firms would now be able to offer digital services not dependent on where their suppliers are located.
