KARACHI: Alibaba.com held a seller summit titled ‘Unlock Business Growth Code’ in Sialkot to bring Pakistani sellers aboard its platform, helping them to access over 200 markets globally, a statement said on Thursday.

The summit featured roundtable conferences and keynote speeches of important stakeholders for exchange of ideas and consultation in order to chalk out a clear pathway for growth of local businesses and exports.

Alibaba.com head for Asia-Pacific Stephen Kuo said, “We are thrilled by the enthusiasm and keenness of [the] local business leaders and entrepreneurs to explore new horizons.”

“There is a lot of untapped potential for growth of e-commerce in Pakistan and Alibaba.com wishes to help unlock it for sustainable economic growth of SMEs [Small and Medium Enterprises] and in turn the national economy,” he added.

He said that the e-commerce giant will fully support local sellers by helping them start their business online, from setting up their stores, uploading products to logistics and operations.

Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry vice president, Shabina said, “We are thankful to Alibaba.com for its efforts to open newer avenues for local businesses to enhance their sales and profitability. The world is changing fast through digitisation; therefore traditional businesses should also change for good.”

“E-commerce is the future and is beneficial for the small and medium business holders because it is less effort and operational cost for better revenues. Through Alibaba’s global platform, our businesses can access markets all over the world and contribute effectively to the national economy,” she added.

Alibaba is one of largest business-to-business marketplace platforms that drive global e-commerce and continue to register substantial growth by the day. The company is actively working to tap into Pakistan’s unexplored potential for e-commerce and has launched multiple similar initiatives in the recent past.

Pakistan is expected to witness an annual growth of 28 per cent in e-commerce in the next three years, crowning it as one of the biggest exporters of online goods.

The Sialkot Summit will help Alibaba reach out to local micro, small and medium scale businesses, who can grow their businesses by selling through Alibaba’s platform.

In order to ensure sustainability of the new businesses, particularly those who were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, Alibaba.com will extend support services like advertising, logistics, payments and daily operations systems.