THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will establish a business-to-business (B2B) marketplace for wholesale trade, providing a platform for enterprises—both small and eventually large—to buy and sell locally produced products in domestic and international markets.
DTI Secretary Cristina Roque said this will be the largest marketplace that the DTI will ever create, and will strictly be carrying homegrown products that can be bought in bulk, or six pieces or more, by local and international buyers.
The portal will be launched in January.
“This is exactly like the Alibaba,” said Roque at the 2024 Wholesale and Retail Trade Forum in Makati City on Monday. Roque was referring to the Chinese multinational platform for businesses worldwide to buy and sell products in bulk quantities.
Roque in her speech said the B2B marketplace is just one step in addressing the sourcing needs of retailers while giving suppliers an avenue to trade their raw materials.
She admitted the wholesale and retail industries continue to be faced with challenges.
“Supply chain efficiencies, regulatory bottlenecks, smuggling, the rise of informal retailing and rapid growth of electronic commerce and the need for continuous upskilling and re-skilling of our workforce are issues that demand our immediate attention,” said Roque.
Roque urged wholesalers and retailers to explore digitalization, saying this is the best way to reach their customers.
The forum is meant to highlight Section G: Job Blueprint for Wholesale and Retail Trade ofa sustainable roadmap for the industries. Roque said wholesale and retail trade industries are vital to the economy. The retail sector contributed approximately P4.4 trillion to the nation’s GDP in 2023.
