ASEAN Online Sale Day (AOSD) 2021: Malaysia joins the flagship initiatives of ASEAN in expanding eCommerce

BANGKOK,Aug. 17,2021 --Recognising the significant role of eCommerce in creating business opportunities for SMEs,Malaysia once again participated in the ASEAN Online Sale Day (AOSD),supported by Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE). This year's edition is hosted by Singapore,Vietnam,and Brunei Darussalam,after the success of the inaugural edition of AOSD in 2020.

AOSD is one of the flagship initiatives of ASEAN. It is conventionally held in August to coincide with ASEAN Day,which is celebrated annually on the 8th of the said month. The AOSD is a demonstration of the region's continued commitment to further develop eCommerce as a sustainable channel for the uninterrupted flow of goods and services within ASEAN.

Through AOSD 2021,all ten ASEAN Member States (AMS) organized an online shopping event,through a globally accessible dedicated portal,which enabled each AMS to highlight their home-grown businesses in a digital Country Pavilion. The Malaysia Pavilion featured products and services from 53 local enterprises.

According to Mr. Norman Dzulkarnain Nasri – MATRADE Trade Commissioner in Bangkok,the main objective of AOSD 2021 is to revitalize demand for goods and services that has faced difficult times during and post-pandemic. "AOSD is conducted collectively among ASEAN member countries". He added "MATRADE is arranging virtual business meetings between Malaysian sellers and Thai companies from 8-31 August 2021 in conjunction with AOSD 2021,targeting both B2C segments and B2B cross-border eCommerce."

"Malaysian SMEs and Thai companies can leverage on eCommerce platforms to access new and emerging markets,meanwhile embark on collaborative ventures and regional engagement with their ASEAN counterparts".

"ASEAN is home to 675 million people and 400 million of them are online during a post-pandemic era. Through the B2B platform,we can facilitate more sourcing initiatives for Malaysia's products and services among businesses."

Under the MyDIGITAL agenda,Malaysia aims to leverage the progressive development of the eCommerce market in ASEAN which targets the digital economy sector to contribute 22.6% of Malaysia's GDP and create 500,000 jobs by 2025. The Department of Statistics Malaysia reported that the income from eCommerce transactions in 2020 was RM896.4billion (US$211.77billion) with an annual growth rate of 32.7%,compared to 22.8% in 2019.

The Embassy of Malaysia in Bangkok encourages Thai and Malaysian companies that are keen to explore the market to contact MATRADE Trade Commissioner in Bangkok,Mr. Norman Dzulkarnain Nasri at bangkok@matrade.gov.my.