Alibaba holds Malaysia Week campaign in Hangzhou

HANGZHOU: China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba is showcasing its continued commitment to Malaysia – its first e-world trade platform (eWTP) outside China – with a “Malaysia Week” campaign.

Launched yesterday, the week-long campaign featured the “must-see, must-eat and must-experience” of Malaysian products and tourism services on alibaba.com, Tmall and Alitrip.

Tmall president Jet Jing said Alibaba has been working with the Malaysian Government and business community for the past year to develop and improve cross-border trade infrastructure in Malaysia.

“Through innovations in logistics, payment, customs clearance and big data, Malaysian small businesses can now enjoy the convenience of global e-commerce trading, which in the past was only available to big multinational corporations.

“By making globalisation more inclusive, small businesses and young people will benefit tremendously in the near future,” he said at the launch here.

Malaysia Week was organised by Alibaba Group in cooperation with Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), International Trade and Industry Ministry, Matrade, SME Corp, Malaysia Investment Development Authority, Tourism Malaysia and Malaysia Inbound Tourism Association.

The launch came amid growing concerns over Malaysia-China relations following the Government’s move to review several China-linked mega projects.

Alibaba group founder and executive chairman Jack Ma, who was in Kuala Lumpur last month to launch Alibaba’s office, had expressed his confidence in the bilateral ties after a meeting with Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

MDEC chief operating officer Datuk Ng Wan Peng, in her speech at the start of the campaign, said Malaysia Week was a bridge linking Malaysia to the world.

“Leveraging on the long-term partnership with Alibaba, Malaysian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) will benefit immensely as they will now be able to reach farther and wider through access to new markets.

“We are confident this partnership with Alibaba will go a long way as Alibaba’s eWTP and Malaysia’s Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ) have a common vision, which is to help SMEs grow and revolutionise Malaysia’s e-commerce,” she said.

As of March this year, there were 2,651 Malaysian merchants on alibaba.com, an increase of 34% since last November when the DFTZ went live.

More than 50 Malaysian brands are expected to be featured on Tmall as part of Malaysia Week.

-thestar online.