Pan Asia Exchange Braces For Thousands Of Portal Signups

The Pan Asia Exchange held its soft launch on Thursday (April 16), providing a new B2B eCommerce portal for members of the 11 ASEAN nations. According to the Pan Asian eCommerce Alliance, known as PAA, the new portal is bracing for thousands of signups early on.

Officials believe 10,000 of PAA’s 340,000 members will log on to the exchange to do business, aimed at bringing buyers and sellers together.

The portal is part of the ASEAN nations’ collaboration to establish a single economic market. Eleven of those nations have already been authorized to conduct trade and develop infrastructure and services to facilitate cross-border trade, both throughout and beyond Southeast Asia.

The launch of the new portal coincides with the introduction of one of the ASEAN member nations’ first-ever B2B online marketplace. Malaysia welcomed Asiatradex.com to the market, also on Thursday. At the event, Malaysia’s Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Dr. Wee Ka Siong spoke to express how the new site will not only benefit B2B commerce in Malaysia, but throughout the ASEAN market. “B2B eCommerce will be important over the next few years, especially within the ASEAN Economic Community initiative which will see freer flow of products, services and manpower across Southeast Asian countries’ borders,” the official said.

In Malaysia alone, online commerce is expected to flourish. According to the head of the National ICT Association of Malaysia (PIKOM) Chairman Cheah Kok Hoong, the acceleration behind the segment will come largely from the nation’s small- and medium-sized businesses. SMEs, he said, make up one-third of the national GDP. “But they are still lagging behind in terms of ICT adoption,” Hoong said.

The launch of platforms like Asiatradeeex.com could promote SMEs’ adoption of useful technological tools like cloud adoption, he added, and in turn could encourage cross-border trading between buyers and suppliers.