PETALING JAYA: The Ministry of Rural Development is calling for more rural entrepreneurs to participate in the DesaMall@KPLB programme to help them expand into more effective and profitable online businesses.
Secretary-general Datuk Dr Ahmad Jailani Muhamed Yunus said entrepreneurs should grab the opportunities offered by the programme in order to grow their business, including expanding into international markets.
“Within two years since DesaMall@KPLB was launched, accumulated sales of local products including food, handicrafts and fashion accessories have reached RM1.275 million as of last year.
“For the December 2018 to December 2019 period, DesaMall@KPLB sales recorded a growth of 68.65% (approximately RM519,000) on platforms such as Shopee, Lazada, eBay, and PrestoMall.
“To date, about 1,200 rural entrepreneurs have registered with DesaMall@KPLB, with the ministry targeting to produce 50 local e-commerce millionaires this year,” he said at the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the ministry and ELokal Sdn Bhd for the implementation of the programme here today.
Also present was ELokal chief executive officer Ahmad Shah Wahid.
Apart from the local market, he said collaborations with e-commerce platforms would help rural entrepreneurs expand into international markets, including into Singapore via Lazada; into Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and Taiwan through Shopee; and into the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia via eBay.
Ahmad Jailani said ELokal’s role in DesaMall@KPLB is to enhance the visibility of the entrepreneurs’ products and services on platforms such as Shopee, Lazada, eBay and PrestoMall.
Meanwhlie, Ahmad Shah expressed confidence that DesaMall@KPLB can achieve RM2.5 mil in sales this year and raise the number of rural entrepreneurs registering with it to 2,200.
“Australia purchases a lot of batik from DesaMall@KPLB entrepreneurs, while handicrafts and pearl accessories are also in demand overseas.
“ELokal’s role is as the administrator of DesaMall@KPLB responsible for managing the orders, delivering the products to buyers, arranging payments with buyers, and managing stock as well as buyer inquiries,” he said.
ELokal is a training and consultancy service provider, offering modules for product pricing, sales techniques, product marketing and online services to rural entrepreneurs. – Jan 29, 2020, Bernama
