Expanding Business Opportunities for the South Asian Textile and Clothing Industry.
Alibaba plans to expand the number of Bangladeshi companies selling products through its website, hoping to increase business from the South Asian textile and clothing industry. The Chinese e-commerce giant is offering an annual fee to manufacturers from Bangladesh to promote their merchandise to overseas buyers via its platform, focusing on small and medium-sized enterprises.
Alibaba has been operating in Bangladesh for two decades but only has 160 companies supplying products through its platform, compared to 3,000 in neighbouring India and Pakistan. Alibaba's proposal includes creating a "Made in Bangladesh" page on its website to showcase goods from the country. Despite concerns over the annual fee, many SME representatives welcomed the proposal.
With the expansion of Alibaba, Bangladesh has the opportunity to generate more export earnings, ultimately enhancing the country's business image.
Alibaba is offering manufacturers from Bangladesh the chance to promote their merchandise to overseas buyers via its platform for an annual fee. It is particularly focused on small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs), according to a proposal submitted to the Bangladeshi Commerce Ministry in Dhaka and seen by Nikkei Asia. A wave of companies signing up to Alibaba from one of the world's top garment producers would give the website a boost, while offering Bangladesh another channel to generate export earnings as it grapples with dwindling foreign currency reserves and a huge gap in its balance of payments. "Alibaba wants to help promote products of Bangladeshi SMEs and submitted its proposal to us," said Sayed Ali, a deputy secretary at the Commerce Ministry. "We have sent copies of the proposal to [business] chambers and associations seeking their opinions."
https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Retail/Alibaba-targets-Bangladeshi-manufacturers-in-push-to-expand