Alibaba holds seller summit in Karachi

KARACHI: Global business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce platform Alibaba.com has organised a seller summit in Karachi, providing opportunities for exporters, manufacturers, wholesalers, traders, and retailers in the city to reach a digital B2B buyer base, a statement said on Thursday.

With over 700+ registrations for the event more than 200 attendees visited the venue to witness the session and 100+ people joined online, Alibaba said.

The objective of the summit was to make local manufacturers and businesses aware of the export e-commerce space and educate them regarding capability of online export business through Alibaba.com.

Mr Song, country head of Alibaba.com Pakistan, Miss Amy Li, apparel category expert at Alibaba, Haider Zamin, Dy. director at Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), Rizwan Ahmad, owner of Noor Fabrics Pvt Ltd, and other association members attended the Karachi seller summit event themed ‘Go Export with Alibaba.com’.

Speaking on the occasion, Song said, “Pakistan is one of Alibaba.com’s most important supplier markets given its geographical advantage, skilled labour force and budding entrepreneurial SMEs [small and medium sized enterprises] looking to export.”

In spite of a progress in Pakistan, there was still room for more high-quality suppliers to start their export journey beyond Sialkot, he added.

Song encouraged businesses in Pakistan to grow beyond the home market and get discovered by a more than 40 million strong global online buyer community on Alibaba.com.

“As an increasing number of global buyers are turning online to fulfill their sourcing needs, and suppliers around the world are also expanding into the online realm, now is the time for our friends in Karachi to seriously consider the online business path as well.”

TDAP deputy director Haider Zamin was of the view that an export policy could be made that might promote the export industry as well as ensure collective goods with both local and international stakeholders.