Online shopping has certainly taken the cyberspace by storm in recent years as it requires no commute to the store and is cost effective for both buyers and sellers. The idea has inspired the Commerce Ministry to develop the website Thaitrade.com to accommodate online businesses for Thai entrepreneurs before the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) takes shape in 2015.
At the prospect of becoming part of the AEC, every sector across the board has become aware of how important it is to adapt to a new business environment. Trades will be done with fewer restrictions across the borders and, thus, bring opportunities to those seeking to take advantage of trade freedom.
The Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP) has launched a website by the name of Thailand B2B E-Marketplace or Thaitrade.com to facilitate global transactions between Thai sellers and buyers from overseas.
According to the DITP, the efficiency of this online platform will be raised to the global standards that it could potentially serve as a hub of cyberspace trading in the ASEAN region before 2015.
Ms. Arada Fuangtong, Head of E-Commerce Group, Office of Trade Information Resources and E-Business, the DITP, expressed her opinions that once ASEAN members have joined the AEC, business competition will be fierce. Such integration may prompt business production costs to rise, which, she said, is where online trading comes in as an alternative to help reduce entrepreneurs’ expenses.
Products from Thailand that have been viewed the most on Thaitrade.com include home decor items, clothes and accessories, farm products, beauty products, furniture and auto spare parts.
The DITP is also determined to list no less than 10,000 more businesses to the website within this year while the number of potential buyers becoming the site members has been estimated at more than 35,000.
