China and Indonesia in Alibaba e-marketplace pact

• Inamall gets a storefront on Aliababa’s Tmall Global
• Brings authentic Indonesian brands and products to China’s largest B2C marketplace

THE Indonesia online pavilion platform called Inamall, an initiative of the Indonesia Chamber of Commerce in China (Inacham), has launched on Alibaba Group’s Tmall Global marketplace.
 
In a statement, Alibaba said this would bring to Chinese consumers authentic Indonesian brands and products while giving Indonesian businesses access to the China market.
 
Launched in February 2014, Tmall Global is an overseas platform and an extension of Alibaba Group’s B2C (business-to-consumer) Tmall business, which enables overseas merchants to enter China’s online retail market.
 
By joining Tmall Global, merchants can conduct business from overseas without the need for physical operations within mainland China, Alibaba said.

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Soft launched in February this year, Inamall (www.inamall.tmall.hk and www.Inamall.1688.com) enables Indonesia merchants and brands to enter China’s retail market without having to go through lengthy process as traditional distributorships.
 
Inamall is the result of collaboration and partnership between the Embassy of Indonesia in China, the Ministry of Trade Indonesia and Inacham, and is supported by various Indonesia business associations.
 
“The launch of Inamall on Tmall Global is starting small, but it is a concrete step that underscores the Indonesian Government’s commitment to promote digital commerce between Chinese and Indonesian businesses,” said Indonesia’s Minister of Trade Thomas Lembong.
 
“This I believe will be increasingly important for facilitating trade between the two countries in the future,” added Thomas, who had led a delegation of over 30 Indonesian businesses including Indofood, Kapal Api and Inaco on a visit to Alibaba Group’s Hangzhou headquarters.
 
Inacham chairman Liky Sutikno said that Inamall aims to be the gateway that puts Indonesian products within easy reach of Chinese consumers.
 
“I believe once Chinese consumers get to know, taste and experience the high quality of Indonesian products, they will develop a long lasting appreciation and emotional connection to Indonesia,” he added.
 
Alibaba said this latest cooperation is reflective of its long-term globalisation strategy to showcase brands and retailers from around the world to its growing 425-million user base, and to bring to them authentic products from their countries of origin.
 
South-East Asia, led by Indonesia and other countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines, plays a pivotal role in Alibaba Group’s growth plans as it continues to build out its infrastructure for commerce globally through investment in logistics, cloud computing, payment channels and innovative marketing, the company said.
 
“One of Alibaba’s stated goals is to serve two billion consumers and tens of millions of merchants globally,” said Alibaba Group global managing director K. Guru Gowrappan.
 
“Indonesia, with its large and engaging consumer base, and a robust SME (small and medium enterprise) base, plays an important and special role in our globalisation strategy.
 
“Our strategy in Indonesia is to help build a sustainable ecosystem for doing e-commerce with a focus on growing local businesses. Our partnership with Inamall marks a very important step in that direction,” he added.
 
Alibaba Group announced in April it had entered into an agreement to acquire a controlling stake in Lazada, a leading e-commerce platform in South-East Asia.
 
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