The Rural Development Ministry targets its newly-launched Desaauto@KPLB, an automotive speciality online store sales programme, to benefit over 200 rural entrepreneurs in manufacturing and distributing automotive parts.

Its minister, Rina Mohd Harun said the initiative in collaboration with popular e-commerce company Shopee, would give entrepreneurs an opportunity to reach new potential customers across the country and region.

She said for a start, 100 automotive products such as tyres, spare parts and engine oil would be made available on the store through its cross-border service, Shopee International Platform.

"A lot must be done in rural areas. Desamall@KPLB and Desaauto@KPLB on Shopee are two of the ministry’s initiatives that will allow rural entrepreneurs to ride the wave of e-commerce in tandem with the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

"Our goal for 2020 is to groom 5,000 new rural entrepreneurs. We have laid the groundwork for them and with all these line-ups, we are confident that we will be able to achieve this target,” she said at the launch of the Desaauto@KPLB official store on Shopee in Kuala Lumpur today.

Initially, Desamall@KPLB, which is under the purview of KPLB, has been marketing products featuring locally-made ones such as sambal, dodol, books and baju kurung by rural entrepreneurs on e-commerce platforms since 2017 and has recorded combined sales of RM1.25 million as of Oct 15, this year.

- Bernama