New Delhi: Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group’s wholesale trading platform Alibaba.com on Monday said it has partnered with bank, non-banking financial services firm and delivery firms—Kotak Mahindra Bank, IDFC Bank, Aditya Birla Finance Ltd, Delhivery and DHL to provide logistics and financial support to Indian SMEs.
It is looking to expand its Trade Facilitation Centre (TFC) programme that helps SMEs in India.
Kotak Mahindra and IDFC will provide banking, transactional and lending solutions to SMEs. Aditya Birla Finance Ltd will help improve SMEs’ exports process with provision of collateral-free loans and customized financing options.
DHL will present Alibaba.com members with Concept 1, a programme with one solution for all exports and imports of documents, samples and small shipments.
Delhivery will provide domestic courier and logistics services with free shipments and offer Alibaba.com members special solutions, prices and customer support.
“The Trade Facilitation Centre is instituted for the sole purpose of driving greater participation of Indian SMEs in the international trade and business market,” said K. Guru Gowrappan, global managing director and head of India for Alibaba Group.
“The TFC programme also underlines our commitment to supporting more inclusive global trade for SMEs, which is the core mission of the 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,” he added.
Alibaba.com has been operating in India since 2007. The marketplace had around 6 million registered Indian buyers and sellers as of early 2016.
“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 Center partners will help our members overcome these challenges,” said Vinay Bhartia, senior vice-president for strategic partnerships for Alibaba.com India.
“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,” said S. Subramanian, senior vice-president and country manager, DHL Express India.
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