Alibaba.com, the Alibaba Group's B2B platform for cross-border wholesale trade, is teaming up with DHL and Indian partners to boost trade, while Blue Dart has launched a cooperation deal with India Post.
Alibaba announced that it has entered into agreements with Kotak Mahindra Bank, IDFC Bank, Delhivery, DHL and Aditya Birla Finance Ltd to explore the establishment of an expanded Trade Facilitation Centre (TFC) program in India.
In a statement, the company explained that through these partnerships, it hopes to encourage and support Indian Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) by providing a one-stop shop for their essential trade requirements.
“The proposed TFC program will allow small and medium enterprises to avail special benefits, dedicated support and customized value-added services besides providing dedicated facilities,” the statement added.
DHL will present Alibaba.com members with Concept 1, a program with one solution for all exports and imports of documents, samples and small shipments while Indian e-commerce enablement company, Delhivery will provide domestic courier and logistics services with free shipments and offer Alibaba.com members special solutions, prices and customer support.
Alibaba.com will also work with Kotak Mahindra Bank and IDFC Bank to provide banking, transactional and lending solutions while Aditya Birla Finance Limited will help improve SMEs’ exports process with provision of collateral-free loans and customized financing options.
Alibaba.com underlined that services, which include customs clearance, shipping, logistics, banking and finance, are essential facilities for businesses and are expected to grow and scale in the global trading scene.
“With leading providers of such services as part of its TFC program, Alibaba.com will provide its platform users with tailor-made services for their business.”
Commenting on the agreements, K. Guru Gowrappan, Global Managing Director and Head of India for Alibaba Group said: “The Trade Facilitation Centre is instituted for the sole purpose of driving greater participation of Indian SMEs in the international trade and business market. We strongly believe that through the vast variety of services offered by our partners, the TFC program will only get stronger and will drive greater participation of Indian SMEs in the international trade and business market.”
He added: “The TFC program also underlines our commitment to supporting more inclusive global trade for SMEs, which is the core mission of the eWTP (electronic World Trade Platform) proposal initiated by Alibaba Group’s Founder and Executive Chairman, Jack Ma and welcomed at the recent G20 Leaders summit in China. We are glad that we are working toward this common goal together.”
Vinay Bhartia, Senior Vice President for Strategic Partnerships for Alibaba.com India, said: "Interacting with SMEs in India, we found they faced multiple challenges even after receiving export orders like logistics, funding, banking services, inspection and shipment.
“So while Alibaba.com helps SMEs or exporters find overseas buyers, value-added services, to be provided by our Trade Facilitation Centre partners, will help our members overcome these challenges.”
Alibaba.com has been operating in India since 2007. The marketplace had around 6 million registered Indian buyers and sellers as of early-2016.
Commenting on the partnership with Alibaba.com, S.Subramanian, Senior Vice President & Country Manager, DHL Express India, said: “In this increasingly connected world, global trade provides a huge opportunity for SMEs in India to scale up and tap the potential of international markets.
“DHL’s association with Alibaba.com as a trade facilitation partner is another solid step in accessing world markets. As a global logistics player, DHL provides reach and services to SMEs within India, and opportunities for cross border trade with over 220 countries and territories across the world.”
Through the Concept 1 program, DHL will offer Alibaba.com members with “a single window” for all international exports and imports of documents, samples and small shipments as well as services such as customs clearance, the company added.
For his part, Sahil Barua, CEO & co-founder at Delhivery, said: “We are excited to work with Alibaba.com and consider ways to extend their vision of providing seamless commerce solutions to Indian businesses and consumers.”
Separately, DHL's Indian subsidiary, Blue Dart Express, confirmed to CEP-Research that it is “running a pilot project with India Post which leverages our extensive domestic network to enable customers to benefit from the fast-growing e-tailing market in the country”.
Blue Dart added: “The pilot is still in the initial phase and we are unable to provide more details at this stage."
India Post is pursuing a strategy aimed at increasing its parcel delivery capacity. This is based on partnering with courier companies which provides scope for the state postal utility to extend its reach in rural areas and remote locations.
