ZALL Smart Commerce and CIC Launch Digital Silk Road Initiative

Looks to Boost China-Asean Trading Opportunities and Facilitate Commodities Trading via Enhanced Digital Connectivity

Commodities Intelligence Centre (“CIC”) announces a momentous 2020 as it has jointly launched a “Digital Silk Road” initiative led by ZALL Smart Commerce Group, Asia’s leading B2B e-commerce Group, and joined Singapore’s Blockchain for Trade & Connectivity (BTC) Network. As Singapore’s first global physical commodities B2B e-trade platform powered by blockchain, together with ZALL’s latest global digital trading platform, and China’s largest online and offline integrated wholesale trading platform “Zallgo”, CIC will help Singapore businesses uncover new opportunities and reap the benefits of the global digital trade economy through enhanced digital connectivity, in turn boosting trade across the Asia-Pacific region on the back of the world’s largest trade pact, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

Zallgo was officially launched during the “2020 Global Digital Trade Conference” that was held in Wuhan last month. A total of 300 merchants sign 252 agreements on-site through ZALL’s digital platform, amounting to a total of S$56.3 billion of cooperation agreements. The newly formed partnerships underscore the increasingly important strategic role of CIC in facilitating the expansion of regional trade and investment as it aims to develop more than 10 winning commodities that will be popular worldwide over the next three to five years.

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Peter Yu, CEO of Commodities Intelligence Centre, shared, “We have withstood the test of the pandemic and have witnessed the impact of the industrial internet economy on global trade and investment. As digital trade becomes the new engine of global economic growth, digital connectivity becomes increasingly important for companies to expand their market footprint quickly in a safe and secure manner. The new partnerships forged with the Digital Silk Road initiative and BTC network strengthens CIC’s existing networks in the region that will enable SMEs to uncover new trading opportunities and optimize their supply chains in cross-border trade through our ecosystem in Asia.”

CIC is also one of the six commercial partners to be part of the recently formed Blockchain for Trade & Connectivity (BTC) Network, an initiative by the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) and Enterprise Singapore (ESG), supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF) to develop a risk assessment framework for small and medium-sized enterprises to assess how blockchain can support their business needs.

The BTC network was officially launched at the sidelines of the Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology (SWITCH) on 7 December 2020. The BTC network to drive innovation and test bedding of blockchain solutions with multimodal global supply chain companies, digital trading platforms and technologies. Other five commercial partners who will be helping to create, trial and lead the BTC Network’s implementation includes Ascent Solutions, Blockchain-based Service Network, GeTS, Trames and VeChain Technology.

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“CIC is well-placed to provide the necessary tools and guidance in promoting greater efficiency and transparency across global supply chains to help SMEs embrace the power of digitalisation to explore opportunities, casting their net wider, reaching out to a larger pool of reliable partners and suppliers beyond their usual reach,” added Peter.

Since the start of the year, CIC’s platform has reported more than 20 per cent increase in customers joining their platform compared to the same period last year. The company also saw a surge in online transactions with over 4,000 customers searching for trading opportunities on the platform on a daily basis. CIC has since achieved a gross merchandise volume of US$13.2 billion (S$17.6 billion), with over 5,200 registered users covering markets, including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, India and China, among other countries in Asia.

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