American e-commerce giant Amazon made its first foray into South-east Asia with the much- anticipated launch of its fast delivery service Prime Now in Singapore yesterday. But instead of seeing this as a threat, Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry) S. Iswaran urged local retailers to leverage such global e-commerce companies to increase their reach. Amazon can also serve as a valuable partner for retailers, local brands and individual merchants as they embark on their own digitalisation strategies, said Mr Iswaran, speaking at Amazon's warehouse. Prime Now is typically part of the paid Amazon Prime membership programme, which will be launched in Singapore soon, he said. "We started with a mobile application because we found that was what matched the Singapore consumers' habits," said Mr Low.

Source: The Nation Bangkok July 28, 2017 12:33 UTC