Aladdin Group To Have Presence In 30 Countries By End-2018

By Mohd Haikal Mohd Isa BANGKOK, May 15 (Bernama) -- Malaysia-based Aladdin Group, which operates Aladdinstreet.com, an e-marketplace for premium quality and halalan-toyyiban products, will have offices in 30 countries by end-2018 as it strives to reach four billion consumers worldwide. The company is setting up offices in 15 countries by the end of this year, said its Senior Vice President, Lawrence Chooi. "We will launch our global platform in August this year," he told Bernama after the signing of a Letter of Intent (LOI) between Aladdin Group and Thailand's Digital Economy Promotion Agency (DEPA) here, recently. Aladdin Group was represented by its Co-founder and President, Desmond To. The LOI will see Aladdin Group promote digital economy in Thailand. Chooi said the company and Thai government would work together to identify quality Thai merchants with good products and help them to penetrate and expand their export markets through Aladdin Group's e-marketplace. Aladdin’s strength, he said, lay with its global reach and with the help from the government, it could help the small and medium enterprises (SME) in the countries it operates in to put their products on the global map. The group was expected to launch Thailand's domestic platform in the fourth quarter of this year, similar to Indonesia and several other countries, he said, adding it expected to select 500 capable Thai merchants in its first year of operations. Chooi also announced that Aladdin Group had just received a licence to operate an e-commerce platform in China three weeks ago, setting the stage for its upcoming operation in the republic. The signing ceremony was witnessed by Thailand’s Vice Minister for Digital Economy and Society, Pansak Sirirucchatapong; Malaysia's Ambassador to Thailand, Nazirah Hussain; and DEPA President, Dr Nuttapon Nimmanphatcharin. Also present were Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation's (MATRADE) Trade Commissioner in Thailand, Norman Dzulkarnain Nasri and Manchester United Football Club’s legends – former England Captain, Bryan Robson and Mikael Silvestre. On March 1 this year, Aladdin Group struck a global partnership with Manchester United as part of efforts to build and expand its brand globally. The company caters to both business-to-business and business-to-consumer communities over the World Wide Web and via its mobile applications. -- BERNAMA