Malee Choklumlerd, director-general of the International Trade Promotion Department, said her agency had focused on promoting online trading as it foresaw wider trade opportunities in the cyber world.

She said the department would talk with Amazon and Alibaba about creating links withwww.thaitrade.com to get international buyers interested in purchasing goods from Thai traders.

SOOK

In addition, the department will kick off a project called “Small Order OK” (SOOK) to encourage small-goods companies to trade online, including internationally.

Under the project, SMEs can advertise their products |via www.thaitrade.com, with buyers able to purchase goods through an e-payment system. The website will also link |with Amazon and Alibaba, while cooperating with DHL Express for shipping goods worldwide.

Previously, www.thaitrade. com only facilitated business-to-business transactions, and buyers had to order large quantities. SOOK will help SMEs generate sales of small orders coming directly from customers, Malee explained.

Since 2013, the department has encouraged 1,684 SMEs to trade online. Over the next three years, it aims to get another 15,000 SMEs to sell their products over the Internet.