Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) and Amazon Global Selling have announced a major collaboration supporting Thai SMEs in expanding internationally. Under this collaborative effort, SCB is the first and so far the only one Thai bank working with Amazon Global Selling to pave the way to bringing Thai products to customers worldwide, first to the U.S. market through Amazon.com. SCB's four strategic moves will be implemented to help Thai SMEs grow internationally using knowledge, funding, business networks, and digital solutions. Aiming to start spurring Thai export growth, this collaboration is expected to support Thai SMEs to tap U.S e-commerce market through amazon.com this year.
Speaking about the collaboration, Siam Commercial Bank SEVP, Chief SME Banking Officer Mrs. Pikun Srimahunt said that SCB realizes that SMEs are key contributor to Thailand's economic growth. With its customer-centric strategy, SCB is determined to develop services and provide support to customers to the fullest extent. This year, SCB is focusing on building strong and continued growth for SMEs to successfully expanding their businesses even further.
Four strategic moves will be adopted, comprising
provision of relevant business advice from specialistsaccess to appropriate funding types for business expansion, including long-term funding, working capital, trade finance, and "Mae Manee Sri Online" digital lending developed by SCB Abacusstrong business networking through SCB to connect SMEs to partners, counterparties, and customers, allowing them to exploit each other's strengths to create competitive advantagesdigital solutions to increase the efficiency of business operations.
At present, SCB is trusted by more than 500,000 SME customers nationwide. However, with intensifying competition in a saturated local market, it is critical for businesses to tap unexplored business opportunities. Expanding overseas will be the key to help raise growth for SMEs. With the arrival of digital technology changing the way business is conducted, cross-border shipments have been made easy, convenient, and quick, allowing access to abundant purchasing power from consumers worldwide through cross border e-commerce.
In this regard, SCB has joined hands with Amazon Global Selling, which is a thriving channel that helps any size of businesses from anywhere in the world to reach more than 300 million Amazon's active customers around the world, including 100 million+ Prime customers in overseas Amazon marketplaces. Amazon has 175 fulfilments centers located across the world that can help sellers deliver products to customers in 185 countries and regions. Amazon offers innovative tools and features to help sellers manage their global businesses effectively including Fulfillment by Amazon, Seller Central, Amazon Advertising, and more.
The collaboration will allow Thai SMEs to expand internationally, starting with the U.S., where the value of the e-commerce market is more than 20 times greater than Thailand's. U.S. has been key export destination for Thailand. According to the trade report by ministry of Commerce stated that in the first 4 months 2019, Thailand exported goods worth 344 billion baht to U.S., making U.S. Thailand's largest export market. We believe that Thai SMEs expanding business through Amazon, will help strengthen Thai exports even further.
Amazon Global Selling Southeast Asia Director Mr. Bernard Tay said that, "We recognize the potential of Thai SMEs seeking to expand business and build their brands in the global market. We are confident that Amazon Global Selling will help bring Thai products to global customers through Amazon's online marketplace. We see Thailand as a rising manufacturing base for high potential product categories. In addition to the recent set up of Amazon Global Selling team in Thailand in late April, we have also worked closely with SCB to fulfill our business missions. At the initial stage of the collaboration, SCB and Amazon Global Selling will first focus on driving market awareness for cross-border e-commerce opportunity, targeting to introduce Thai SMEs to tap into U.S. e-commerce market through amazon.com. Second, we will provide educational support to potential Thai sellers through JumpStart program. The program is designed to provide information for entrepreneurs to sell on Amazon through Global Selling including educating Thai sellers in terms of the account registration process, listing creation, Seller Central features, Fulfillment by Amazon, and more."