Indonesia-based Bukalapak has launched BukaGlobal, which connects the global market with more than 4 million Indonesian sellers, or pelapak. According to Bukalapak, it is the first Indonesian e-commerce platform to be available internationally, further advancing its mission to spearhead the digitalisation and internationalisation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Indonesia.
Fajrin Rasyid, Co-Founder and President of Bukalapak explains that BukaGlobal was designed to address logistics challenges in the region, such as high costs in postal and courier delivery*. "We want to break down barriers that hinder young and small entrepreneurs from competing on a global playing field, primarily on access, infrastructure, and connectivity. With BukaGlobal, Indonesian products are readily accessible by consumers anywhere in the world through a fast and reliable platform," said Rasyid during the launch.
Singapore is the first country that BukaGlobal is serving. Ngurah Swajaya, Ambassador of the Republic Indonesia to Singapore, explains, “The strong ties that has been established between Indonesia and Singapore, makes it the suitable market hub to introduce Indonesian products in the regional market field. This could be a proper strategy to advance the SMEs potential.”
According to a report by Bain & Company**, a huge middle class is rapidly emerging throughout developing Southeast Asia. Fifty million new consumers will join the ranks of the middle class in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam by 2022, contributing to the region’s US$300 billion in middle-class disposable income. The middle class will expand to include 350 million people and continue on its upward trajectory.
The Indonesian government is helping 8 million Indonesian SMEs to transform their business model. Rudiantara, Minister of Communication and Information Technology, Indonesia, stated in his remarks, “We feel that Bukalapak’s new initiative is aligned with the Indonesian government’s vision in both facilitating and accelerating export market expansion such as vocational programmes, the development of Internet infrastructure, along with business and entrepreneur workshops. We believe that when the collaboration happens between technology and traditional markets, progress will be seen and the path to lead the digital economy in Southeast Asia is clearer for Indonesia.”
Details:
BukaGlobal is currently available in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong,
Taiwan and Brunei Darussalam, with more markets onboarded soon. At the
moment, only qualified sellers in Jakarta and Tangerang,
Indonesia are able to offer BukaGlobal as part of their service, with
more sellers to be involved.
Consumers in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Brunei can order products with weights starting from 0.5 kg with delivery times of approximately six to 11 days depending on the destination.
*International Trade Centre, New Pathways to e‐Commerce: A Global MSME Competitiveness Survey, 2017. (PDF)
**Bain & Company and Facebook IQ. Understanding Southeast Asia’s Emerging Middle Class. Bain. (PDF).
