TECH company vCargo Cloud is rolling out its import and export “digital ecosystem” GUUD in the Philippines by the second half of 2021, focusing its initial efforts on the seafood industry.
GUUD Chief Executive Officer Desmond Tay said that under this ecosystem, businesses that do not traditionally have access to the global market would be able to connect to buyers overseas by linking them to customs, financing, logistics, and shipping platforms.
“We’re looking to actually start off with the seafood market, the seafood industry. That is one of the industries which we think that will be a very quick start for us because we have a strong community in terms of seafood trade itself and this is actually would be a very good start,” he said in an online interview on Friday.
Mr. Tay said that the company is trying to find local partners to help finance “underserved markets” or micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises.
“We need to work with local partners. Let’s say, in the case of the Philippines, to actually have a partnership and then offer trade finance solutions to the local companies there as well.”
The platforms also digitally connect businesses to government agencies such as the Custom bureau and the Agriculture department for the required licensing and permits.
“Compliance could be a very challenging thing. So one of the things that the platform does is really to integrate directly with the various customs,” Mr. Tay said.
As a business-to-business ecosystem, GUUD plans to link specific industries among major exporters and importers.
“If you talk about seafood, then the strategy here is to actually go into the different countries that are major exporters and importers of seafood and actually onboard them,” Mr. Tay said.
“In the Philippines case, definitely food products — whether it’s in seafood, whether it is in mango products — we’re actually looking at how they onboard. It can be different stages of the products, it can be raw materials… or processed,” he added.
He said that the pandemic has created stronger demand for digitalization, as well as a need to address warehouse and supply chain disruptions.
The Philippine warehouse logistics industry is expected to grow in the next three years due to an e-commerce boom, property consultancy firm Lobien Realty Group has said. — Jenina P. Ibañez
