Looks to help local SMEs navigate regional trade through ASEAN-China supply chain networks
Asia’s leading B2B e-commerce group, ZALL Smart Commerce Group (ZALL), announced that it will be expanding the scale of its operations and investments in Singapore. ZALL will invest in its Singapore business, including Commodities Intelligence Centre (CIC), a Joint Venture between ZALL, the Singapore Exchange (SGX) and Global eTrade Services (GeTS). It has increased its recruitment efforts, with a number of open roles for its operations and trading teams in Singapore. ZALL is also investing into technology to further enable Singapore SMEs to trade more freely across Asia.
ZALL is one of the nine bidders who made the shortlist for the Singapore wholesale digital banking license with only three licenses will be awarded by end-2020. The digital bank foray will mark ZALL’s fourth major project in Singapore as it aims to bridge the funding gap and support the expansion of local SMEs and micro-SMEs into Asia.
ZALL’s Chairman, Yan Zhi believes that the pandemic has highlighted the importance of leveraging cross-border growth opportunities, especially between ASEAN and China to build more resilient supply chains. Mr. Yan’s comments were shared at the recent FutureChina Global Forum 2020 (FCGF) that was attended by over 1,300 regional delegates who discussed the latest development trends and growth opportunities between China and ASEAN. From Singapore, the event was graced by Minister for Trade and Industry Mr Chan Chun Sing.
“While it is business as usual in China now, the rest of the world is still affected by the pandemic that has disrupted supply chains, cratering economies. Today, most of the trading and transactions have to be done online, creating an urgency for traditional businesses to leverage on digital platforms and digitally transform as soon as possible in order to survive,” emphasized Mr. Yan Zhi, Chairman of ZALL.
“With confidence, we will eventually go through the difficulties, through the epidemic and fog before us, and the world in three years will only be better,” said Mr Yan.
The pandemic has amplified Singapore’s importance in driving ASEAN-China trade, a valuable proof point around ZALL’s decision to establish its international headquarters in Singapore by launching Commodities Intelligence Centre (CIC) two years ago (2018). CIC is Singapore’s first B2B e-trading platform for physical commodities powered by blockchain technology. It offers a global intelligent trading platform to more than a dozen countries, helping companies to reduce transaction costs, optimise the efficiency of their supply chains across cross-border trading, financing, logistics, compliance and risk management; and achieve greater trading synergies globally.
Despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, CIC has seen sales revenues at approximately US$1 billion (S$1.36 billion) during the first half of this year (2020), which exceeded the total revenue throughout last year. Moreover, the number of customers on the CIC platform increased by 20 per cent as compared to 2019, resulting in a surge in the level of activity on the entire platform.
Mr Peter Yu, CEO of Commodities Intelligence Centre, shared, “Singapore has the ideal geographical location when it comes to commodities trading, playing a critical role in supporting regional trade. Singapore’s nation-wide push for digitalisation has created the necessary environment to groom digital-savvy talents, and we look forward to inviting ideal candidates to join our growing team in Singapore.”
“Be it COVID-19 or the recent spike in dengue cases, CIC offers opportunities for businesses of all sizes to mitigate crises by diversifying revenue sources and extending their global reach of their supply chains. In doing so, we are building business resilience against current and future pandemics,” added Mr Yu.
About ZALL Smart Commerce Group
ZALL Smart Commerce Group (ZALL) is a leading Chinese B2B e-commerce group (ranked 139th of Fortune China 500 companies in 2020) with a global footprint across the world and is listed on four exchanges on HKSE, NYSE, SSE and SZSE. ZALL develops and operates Asia’s largest B2B offline-to-online trade ecosystem in China and Southeast Asia, including Singapore, with more than 30 B2B platforms in China, US and Singapore, and a GFA of more than 10 million sqm of wholesale trade centres in China. In 2018, ZALL Group achieved a GMV of more than RMB 600 billion (US$85.2 bn), serving over 1 million SME customers worldwide.
ZALL has also obtained a virtual banking licence and currently operates Z-Bank in China since 2017, one of China’s top 5 digital banks that has supported more than 5.5 million SMEs and individual customers. For more information, please visit http://en.zallcn.com/
About Commodities Intelligence Centre (CIC)
The Commodities Intelligence Centre (CIC) is a global trading platform for physical commodities including Ferrous & Non-Ferrous Metals, Chemicals & Plastics, Oil & Petroleum, and Agri Commodities. Officially launched in Singapore on 12 Oct 2018, CIC is a Joint Venture between China-based ZALL Smart Commerce Group, Global eTrade Services (GeTS) and Singapore Exchange (SGX) to build trade connectivity through digital marketplaces and to grow a vibrant trading ecosystem in Singapore.
CIC aims to revolutionise commodity trading and facilitate cross-border trade through deal matching, trade finance, supply chain logistics, track and trace and global trade compliance. Since its establishment in October 2018, CIC has achieved a GMV (Gross Merchandise Volume) of more than US$13.1 billion (S$17.9 billion), with over 5,000 registered users covering markets including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, China, amongst other countries in Asia. For more information, please visit www.cic-tp.com.
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