Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba launched a special section for Indonesian products on its platform on Friday to promote the country’s best products to more than a billion Chinese consumers. The section, known as the Indonesian Pavilion, debuted on Alibaba’s Tmall Global, a platform dedicated to helping international retail brands and entrepreneurs reach out to the Chinese market despite not having a presence in the country.
Indonesian Ambassador Djauhari Oratmangun and Ryan Wang, general manager of public affairs at Tmall, inaugurated the special section during an event in Shanghai.
The Indonesian Pavilion was launched in time for Alibaba’s 2018 11.11 Global Shopping Festival, the world’s largest one-day shopping event, which takes place on Nov. 11 every year.
The section will initially offer five leading Indonesian food and beverage brands: Indomie instant noodles, Kapal Api packaged coffee, Richeese biscuits, Yan Ty Ty swallow’s nests and Papatonk shrimp crackers.
Through Tmall’s integrated service center, brands can increase consumer awareness of their products ahead of the upcoming shopping festival.
Chinese consumers will also have a chance to learn about Indonesia’s cultural richness and exotic tourist destination, which will also be featured on the platform.
This forms part of Alibaba’s ongoing initiatives over the past few years to support Indonesian startups and small and medium enterprises.
Jack Ma, Alibaba chairman and co-founder, serves on Indonesia’s digital economy board, advising the government on how to best nurture and implement digital technology to drive development.
The government and Alibaba are also discussing ways to help Indonesia train local talent in the digital field and increase innovations in financial technology.