User interface of Airlalaa, a Vietnamese-based e-commerce platform that won the APEC Digital Prosperity Award (Source: airlala.com) Da Nang (VNA) - Thefirst APEC Digital Prosperity Award was given to Airlala, a Vietnamese-basede-commerce platform, on November 7 as APEC senior officials began their policydeliberations.
Airlala’s mission is to supportlocal artisans selling products globally, according to a press release issuedby the APEC Secretariat.
The APEC Digital Prosperity Awardis a special prize to acknowledge the creation of a digital product that uses innovationto increase prosperity and inclusive growth across economies in the AsiaPacific region.
“We are honoured to receive thefirst APEC Digital Prosperity Award,” said Hai Nguyen, Founder and ChiefExecutive Officer (CEO) of Airlala. “The award offers great support towards ourmission of supporting local artisans and small businesses in the APEC region.”
“Airlala is more than amarketplace, it is empowered by machine-learning that will match internationalbuyers with local artisans and small firms, based on the information buyers andsellers put through the platform,” he added.
The e-commerce platform wasselected for the APEC Digital Prosperity Award from a pool of eleven teams thatparticipated in the first-ever APEC App Challenge in May, where Asia-Pacific’smost talented developers competed to build an app for small businesses on thesidelines of the APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting in Hanoi.
“Small businesses are the key toboosting innovation in the Asia-Pacific region and form the backbone of theregion’s business sector,” said the APEC Secretariat’s Executive Director Dr.Alan Bollard.
“Given its importance andpotential, they must continue to be afforded an environment that enables themto thrive.
“The APEC Digital ProsperityAward aims to motivate the region’s creative entrepreneurial spirit to solvethe challenges small business players are facing through innovation andtechnology,” he added.
The APEC Digital Prosperity AwardSelection Committee is comprised of the Asia Foundation, the APEC Secretariat,the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade, and Google.
“Airlala provides the platformfor SME players to expand their businesses outside their home market,” saidJohn Karr, Senior Director of the Asia Foundation’s Technology Programmes. “Ituses the familiar and proven marketplace model which has high scalability andreplicability. This is the reason why we decided to grant the APEC DigitalProsperity Award to Airlala.”
“Small businesses hold greatpotential. All they need is to have the tool to sell online, sell their crafts,skills and their goods to the world,” added Andrew Ure, Google’s head of Tradeand Economic Affairs in Asia Pacific.
“If we’re able to double thenumber of small businesses in Asia-Pacific that are exporting, it would add 35million new jobs, and 1.5 trillion USD in export sales in the region.”
The winner of the APEC DigitalProsperity Award was announced during the Concluding Senior Officials’ Meeting(CSOM) in conjunction with the 2017 APEC Economic Leaders’ Week in Da Nang,Vietnam.-VNA
Airlala’s mission is to supportlocal artisans selling products globally, according to a press release issuedby the APEC Secretariat.
The APEC Digital Prosperity Awardis a special prize to acknowledge the creation of a digital product that uses innovationto increase prosperity and inclusive growth across economies in the AsiaPacific region.
“We are honoured to receive thefirst APEC Digital Prosperity Award,” said Hai Nguyen, Founder and ChiefExecutive Officer (CEO) of Airlala. “The award offers great support towards ourmission of supporting local artisans and small businesses in the APEC region.”
“Airlala is more than amarketplace, it is empowered by machine-learning that will match internationalbuyers with local artisans and small firms, based on the information buyers andsellers put through the platform,” he added.
The e-commerce platform wasselected for the APEC Digital Prosperity Award from a pool of eleven teams thatparticipated in the first-ever APEC App Challenge in May, where Asia-Pacific’smost talented developers competed to build an app for small businesses on thesidelines of the APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting in Hanoi.
“Small businesses are the key toboosting innovation in the Asia-Pacific region and form the backbone of theregion’s business sector,” said the APEC Secretariat’s Executive Director Dr.Alan Bollard.
“Given its importance andpotential, they must continue to be afforded an environment that enables themto thrive.
“The APEC Digital ProsperityAward aims to motivate the region’s creative entrepreneurial spirit to solvethe challenges small business players are facing through innovation andtechnology,” he added.
The APEC Digital Prosperity AwardSelection Committee is comprised of the Asia Foundation, the APEC Secretariat,the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade, and Google.
“Airlala provides the platformfor SME players to expand their businesses outside their home market,” saidJohn Karr, Senior Director of the Asia Foundation’s Technology Programmes. “Ituses the familiar and proven marketplace model which has high scalability andreplicability. This is the reason why we decided to grant the APEC DigitalProsperity Award to Airlala.”
“Small businesses hold greatpotential. All they need is to have the tool to sell online, sell their crafts,skills and their goods to the world,” added Andrew Ure, Google’s head of Tradeand Economic Affairs in Asia Pacific.
“If we’re able to double thenumber of small businesses in Asia-Pacific that are exporting, it would add 35million new jobs, and 1.5 trillion USD in export sales in the region.”
The winner of the APEC DigitalProsperity Award was announced during the Concluding Senior Officials’ Meeting(CSOM) in conjunction with the 2017 APEC Economic Leaders’ Week in Da Nang,Vietnam.-VNA
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