Ma reveals that he was inspired by Malaysia’s MSC and announces ‘Malaysia Week’ to promote local products in China.
Alibaba Group executive chairman Jack Ma met with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad this morning, with the Prime Minister later revealing that he had a good exchange of ideas on various subjects with the Alibaba Group founder and executive chairman.
Dr Mahathir disclosed this in a post uploaded on his official Twitter account, saying “we had a good exchange of ideas on a wide range of subjects”.
Later, Ma opened Alibaba’s first South-east Asian headquarters at the UOA corporate building in Bangsar South.
He was accompanied by Chinese ambassador Bai Tian and was greeted with a crowd of office workers from the same building.
Also present at the event was Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng and Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo.
In his speech, Ma said Alibaba Malaysia would turn the office into a training centre to encourage more Malaysians to trade globally.
“We see so many young people and want to empower them,” he said.
He said Alibaba’s focus was in three sectors – to digitalise a country, support small business to trade globally and create jobs.
He said his inspiration for Alibaba Malaysia came from the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) implemented by Mahathir during his first stint as prime minister to promote high technology enterprises.
Ma said he has seen how MSC empowered people and have watched it grow.
Last year, he said he decided to open an office in Malaysia based on the MSC concept.
He said Malaysia inspired him to move forward with Alibaba.
“He (Mahathir) is a legend. 93 years old but he knows so much about technology. After talking to him, I should read more books,” he said, drawing laughter from his audience.
To mark the occasion, Alibaba Malaysia will hold a Malaysia Week on its website from July 6 to 12 to promote over 50 Malaysian products in China, from durian to the best tourist destination.
Ma was in Malaysia last November to attend the groundbreaking launch of the Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ) with former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
DFTZ is an e-hub set up by the Alibaba Group and the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC).
The project is expected to double the goods exported by small and medium enterprises, create 60,000 jobs locally and facilitate US$ 65bil worth of traded goods by 2025.
Meanwhile, The Star reported that Ma said there is nothing wrong with reviewing projects.
“[I heard] there will be reviews. So what? Our companies have reviews every quarter. We need to have reviews all the time to determine what is right and what is wrong,” said Ma.
Under the premiership of Dr Mahathir, the newly-minted government has said they would review projects that it deems unfavourable.
“Before I came here I heard a lot of words about the China- Malaysia relationship from the business community. Just like 20 years ago, many people were worried. I think worrying cannot solve problems,” he said.