An attractive market for consumer goods

WITH a population of 446 million - the world's third largest market after China and India - the EU is an attractive market for producers of consumer goods.

With their relatively high purchasing power on a global scale, EU citizens are also ideal consumers of high-value manufactured products.

Supporting high consumption is a rapidly growing e-commerce sector which is expected to be worth 717 billion euros (S$1.1 trillion) by the end of 2020, a 12.7 per cent increase over the previous year.

Opportunities for Singapore companies

Singapore is well positioned as a trade hub in the growing Southeast Asia region, where the online economy is valued at US$100 billion (S$136 billion). Along with strong capabilities in logistics, this makes Singapore an attractive destination for EU firms.

The country's e-commerce expertise also makes it a promising source of partners for EU firms.

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To facilitate the growth of e-commerce, Singapore has developed quality and standards benchmarks that foster trust and confidence.

It has also launched standards for transparent e-commerce processes and policies, and for data exchanges to facilitate last-mile delivery.

To support seamless and secure trade flows and ensure that systems are secure and resilient to cyberattacks, the Singapore Accreditation Council has initiatives such as a certification programme to assure consumers that e-commerce platforms have the proper cybersecurity management systems in place.

FRANCE

France is an ideal marketplace for international brands in the lifestyle goods sector, due to its relatively affluent consumer base.

Widely regarded as the world's fashion capital, Paris is a base from which cosmetics and lifestyle brands may enter Europe and gain international recognition. There is also a large network of distributors and retailers that can support Singapore brands.

Some key emerging trends in France include a rising demand for ethnic and Asian-inspired fashion, and a movement towards sustainable production chains.

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

While Western Europe has the highest share of online shoppers at 83 per cent, the strongest growth is in Central and Eastern Europe, with online shoppers in Bulgaria and Romania both increasing by 30 per cent year-on-year in 2019.

This e-commerce growth requires supporting infrastructure such as broadband or mobile device access, credit card penetration, and localised platforms - creating opportunities for Singapore firms.

The region's retail sector growth is expected to be led by countries such as Poland, which has a strong info-communication and technology sector, a cost-competitive labour force and a sizeable domestic consumer base, making it an ideal testing ground for new market entrants.

The Central and Eastern European region also plays an important role as a geographical bridge between production centres in Asia and European consumers.

Poland has become one of the region's most significant logistics hubs, given its good sea, land and air connectivity both into the EU and with the rest of the world, especially China. Global companies such as Amazon have chosen Poland as the location for their main EU regional distribution centres for e-commerce.

Singapore retail and logistics companies could look at co-operating with Polish logistics companies to seize EU-wide opportunities.

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