Trustana, a curated cross-border business-to-business (B2B) marketplace founded by Temasek, and OneConnect Financial ...
Trustana, a curated cross-border business-to-business (B2B) marketplace founded by Temasek, and OneConnect Financial Technology (Singapore) Co. Pte. Ltd. (OneConnect), the leading technology-as-a-service platform provider and an associate of Ping An Group, today announced a strategic collaboration to accelerate cross-border commerce. Under this collaboration, Trustana will integrate OneSME, a digital cross-border trade platform, into its marketplace. Building on Trustana’s cross-border trade expertise and OneConnect’s core competencies in architecting technology solutions, curating and operating an extensive network of ecosystems in China, the collaboration will enable small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore and ASEAN to access a larger pool of buyers in China, seize international trade opportunities, and benefit from value-added services on Trustana’s platform.
With a curated marketplace and fulfilment offerings initially focused on the F&B sector, Trustana’s platform enables buyers and sellers to transact with greater trust and confidence. As a result of the collaboration, SMEs in Southeast Asia will be able to buy and sell their products directly to pre-screened buyers and suppliers in China who show keen interest, boosting the chances of a match. In addition, the collaboration will allow SMEs to have access to a buyer base of four million Chinese SMEs via OneConnect’s YiQiYe, a one-stop SME ecosystem that provides financing, insurance and cash management solutions to SMEs in China. Trustana will also integrate with the Guangxi Open Finance Platform, a cross-border digital financial services platform led by Guangxi district government, and jointly built and operated by OneConnect and Digital Guangxi Group to promote collaborations between governments, institutions and enterprises. The strategic collaboration will strengthen Trustana’s growing presence in China as a buyer marketplace, and accelerate ongoing expansion to other trade corridors in ASEAN.
OneConnect, as the technology expert for financial institutions and ecosystem strategies, will provide Trustana buyers and suppliers with access to financial services products through OneSME’s first bank partner, United Overseas Bank. UOB, which has received industry recognition for its efforts to help SMEs achieve their growth ambitions, will provide digital financing services as well as solutions that go beyond banking, helping SMEs seize cross-border opportunities.
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Virtual signing ceremony between Trustana and OneConnect Financial Technology to mark the strategic collaboration
(Top-row, from left to right: Ms Rebecca Xing, General Manager, Trustana; Ms Tan Bin Ru, CEO, Southeast Asia, OneConnect Financial Technology; Mr Glenn Gore, Board member of Trustana & CEO, Affinidi
Second-row, from left to right: Mr Chia Song Hwee, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Temasek; Mr Leong Der Yao, Assistant Chief Executive, Sectoral Transformation, Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore)
Trustana is excited by the opportunities that this collaboration with OneConnect creates in further supporting local businesses who are keen to expand internationally. By leveraging our respective advantages – Trustana’s cross-border trade expertise and transaction fulfilment services and OneConnect’s extensive financial services industry expertise and network - and with continued support from IMDA, we are well-positioned to empower local businesses to enter the China market swiftly and securely. We are confident that this collaboration is a significant step forward in our mission to democratize access to cross-border markets for businesses of all sizes.
Ms Rebecca Xing, General Manager, Trustana
We are thrilled by the possibilities that our tech solutions and ecosystem strategies can bring for SMEs in Singapore, China and Southeast Asia from our collaboration with Trustana. Now more than ever, cross-border ecosystem platforms will go a long way in helping SMEs scale their business, expand overseas and adopt global technologies to grow and thrive. With the current climate, the establishment of greater interconnectivity is imperative, and we are proud to be part of this shared mission of fostering SME success.
Ms Tan Bin Ru, CEO (Southeast Asia) of OneConnect Financial Technology
Through our Grow Digital initiative under the SMEs Go Digital programme, IMDA has helped 2,000 SMEs access overseas markets with the help of digital platforms such as OneSME. The collaboration between OneConnect and Trustana will combine the reach of two home-grown B2B platforms and enhance our SMEs’ access to overseas opportunities in China. I encourage SMEs keen to tap on these opportunities to reach out to our platform partners for assistance.
Mr Leong Der Yao, Assistant Chief Executive, Sectoral Transformation, IMDA
Headquartered in Singapore, Trustana has aided over 2,000 F&B buyers and suppliers in building new cross-border business connections across China and Southeast Asia within a year of launching. Trustana provides end-to-end trade support services including cross-border payments, transaction fulfillment, and shipping and logistics services. The OneSME platform was established as a joint initiative by OneConnect and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) to enable SMEs in Singapore to trade and transact securely across borders while leveraging an ecosystem of services in the digital economy. Close to 300 SMEs in Singapore and China have come on board OneSME since it was launched in September 2020.
The global B2B e-commerce market size was valued at USD5.7 trillion in 2019 and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.5 per cent from up to 2027 i. In addition, global e-commerce sales for both B2B and B2C jumped to USD26.7 trillion in 2019, up 4 per cent from 2018ii. This represents the growing importance of online marketplaces in facilitating cross-border transactions today.
Visit our website for more information about joining Trustana as a supplier.
i https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/business-to-business-b2b-e-commerce-market
ii https://unctad.org/news/global-e-commerce-jumps-267-trillion-covid-19-boosts-online-sale
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