To date, the platform has collaborated with Shopee, Lazada, eBay and PrestoMall and it aims to expand market to Singapore and China in the 1Q20

by SHAHEERA AZNAM SHAH/ pic by MUHD AMIN NAHARUL

ELOKAL Sdn Bhd is expecting DesaMall@KPLB, a government-backed online e-commerce platform for rural entrepreneurs, to generate RM2.5 million in sales revenue this year, driven by an anticipated increase in global demand for food and beverage (F&B) products.

Its CEO Ahmad Shah Wahid said the company, which has been tasked with enabling rural entrepreneurs, will be expanding DesaMall@KPLB’s exporting market to Singapore and China in the first quarter of this year (1Q20).

It expects to achieve the RM2.5 billion accumulative total revenue target in 2020 with the help of additional export markets.

“ELokal will be partnering with Lazada to introduce DesaMall@KPLB on its Singaporean platform. We will also be partnering with Jocom MShopping Sdn Bhd, who will be marketing DesaMall@KPLB for the Chinese market.

“We have received higher demand from the Singaporean market, especially for F&B products, but without a proper supply chain, it is difficult to export food products,” Ahmad Shah told reporters at the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Rural Development (KPLB) and ELokal in Petaling Jaya yesterday.

As of December 2019, DesaMall@KPLB has generated an accumulative revenue of RM1.28 million since its inception in October 2017. To date, the platform has collaborated with Shopee, Lazada, eBay and PrestoMall.

Some 1,274 rural entrepreneurs have participated as merchants under DesaMall@KPLB at present, Ahmad Shah said.

“Last year, we had trained 400 local entrepreneurs and we expect 2,000 new products to be listed on DesaMall@KPLB this year,” he added.

He said 10 of the total rural entrepreneurs under DesaMall@KPLB could achieve RM1 million in revenue, contributing to the government’s aim to have 50 entrepreneur millionaires this year.

“The government targets 50 rural entrepreneur millionaires to be produced this year under its programmes. For DesaMall@KPLB alone, I think we have about 10 entrepreneurs who are nearly reaching the benchmark.

“With the anticipated higher demand and exports this year, we are hoping for these 10 entrepreneurs to expand their profits,” Ahmad Shah noted.

DesaMall@KPLB is a government initiative that facilitates entrepreneurial activities of rural businesses.

At present, businesses on the e-commerce platform have been exporting to Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Taiwan through Shopee, as well as to the US, the UK and Australia via eBay.

Under the MoU signed yesterday, ELokal will continue to provide entrepreneurial training and manage the marketing aspects of DesaMall@KPLB’s merchants for the next two years.

ELokal provides end-to-end ecommerce training solutions, digital marketing and education technologies to small and medium enterprises and micro businesses in order to help them understand the fundamentals of doing business online and prepare them to compete in the current business landscape, according to its website.