On Apr 11, Lazada officially launched their Singapore office and regional headquarters, named Lazada One– a move that asserts a stronger Southeast Asian presence for the group.
The opening of Lazada One, which sits in the central Bras Basah district, was officiated by Minister of Communications and Information (MCI) Josephine Teo.
The new office space, spanning 109,000 sqft, is designed with considerations for the future hybrid workplace in mind, in hopes of fostering greater collaboration both within the building and across its offices in the region.
The Lazada One building is owned by Real estate fund manager ARA Asset Management and British property group Chelsfield and is currently up for sale for $800 million. Lazada is the anchor tenant in the 10-floor building and has incorporated modern and creative designs for its office spaces, which includes tasteful pantries at every floor and an open concept office space with several private and open discussion rooms.
Teo noted Lazada’s crucial place in building Singapore’s thriving digital economy, alongside multinational corporations (MNCs) and a large pool of SMEs. “[This is especially since] the Singapore government and companies like Lazada have a shared vision of continually investing in the future,” she adds.
In addition, Teo addressed three main areas that the government is investing in to ensure that businesses like Lazada and their talent remain relevant and competitive. Firstly, investments in SME digitalisation, in lieu of the rise of e-commerce, with many SMEs now utilising technology platforms to sell their products and services to larger audiences.
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Secondly, Teo highlighted the government’s investment in last-mile delivery infrastructure through the rollout of a network of parcel lockers nationwide, completing a milestone of 1000 pick lockers throughout Singapore. “Last-mile deliveries are essential for e-commerce,” says Teo, “this network improves the efficiency and sustainability of the last-mile delivery sector [for] consumers to pick up their parcels conveniently near their homes around the clock."
Lastly, investments in human capital has also been a priority, according to Teo. “With the global tech talent crunch, we all need to do more to ensure that our existing tech workforce remains relevant and competitive,” Teo says.
As such, Chun Li, CEO of Lazada Group, announced the launch of Lazada Foundation, an initiative established by Lazada Group in 2022, which aims to award scholarships to women and youths across Southeast Asia, to help them in securing education opportunities in the digital economy and better close the digital divide in this day and age.
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The initiative will be a sustained commitment across crucial markets in Southeast Asia, such as Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The Lazada Foundation scholarships are designed to support young talent to pursue their education and excel academically without financial hurdles standing in their way. In addition, these young talents will also receive career and internship opportunities, which stand to contribute to their holistic development and equip them with e-commerce skill sets for a digital future world.
“Establishing Lazada One in Singapore, the gateway to Southeast Asia, reinforces our commitment to support the growth of the digital commerce industry,” says Chun.
Earlier in March, Lazada reached a new milestone of one million small and micro-SMEs using their app and AI-enabled business advice to connect with 150 million consumers on the platform every month, according to Chun. “[These numbers reflect] the health and the vibrance of this ecommerce ecosystem today, [and] indicates a bigger halo effect on multitudes of lives…uplifted in the past decade.”
“Our presence here reinforces our mission to [continue] accelerat[ing] progress in Southeast Asia through commerce and technology in the next 10 years and beyond,” Chun adds.
Photo: Lazada
