NEWS
NEWS
Alibaba Group opens office in Malaysia
TECHNOLOGY conglomerate Alibaba Group opened its national office in Malaysia in June this year , marking a new chapter in the company ’ s deepening strategic cooperation with Malaysia , which is the first Electronic World Trade Platform ( eWTP ) hub outside of China .
Located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur , the company said the new office signifies Alibaba Group ’ s continued endeavour to bolster the technology capability of Malaysian small and medium-sized enterprises ( SMEs ) and young entrepreneurs , provide support and platforms to assist them to drive exports , as well as offer extensive training programmes to help them take advantage of digital innovations and trade opportunities .
“ Alibaba ’ s focus is on three areas when we partner with Malaysia as well as other countries — to digitise our local partners and empower small businesses and young people to go global . Over the past 30 years , only large corporations have benefited from globalisation . Imagine if we can support 60 million small businesses around the world ; this is Alibaba ’ s vision of an inclusive and sustainable economy ,” said Jack Ma , executive chairman and founder of Alibaba Group at the Alibaba office
From Left : Ambassador Bai Tian , China ’ s Ambassador to Malaysia ; Jack Ma , executive chairman and founder of Alibaba Group ; Lim Guan Eng , Malaysia ’ s Finance Minister , and Gobind Singh Deo , Malaysia ’ s Minister of Communications & Multimedia .
opening ceremony in Malaysia ’ s capital city .
“ Working closely with the Malaysian government , we will support and empower as many small businesses and young people as possible to use technology to become local kings and benefit from globalisation . This is the beginning of our story in Malaysia and I think Alibaba ’ s story will be long and we will make this story together ,” he added . Serving as a ‘ one-stop solution centre ’ for local businesses , the country office is designed to engage with existing local partners , help Malaysian businesses identify global cross-border trade opportunities , as well as to support the country ’ s technology innovation through cloud computing services .
Malaysia ’ s Minister of Finance , Lim Guan Eng , commented : “ We consider this a shining symbol of China-Malaysia friendship that is based on mutual respect and benefits that augurs well for the cooperation on the part of governments , businesses and people from both countries . We look forward to the opportunities this partnership will bring to Malaysian SMEs and I am confident that the eWTP , together with the Digital Free Trade Zone ( DFTZ ), will encourage more Malaysian SMEs to participate in e-commerce and increase their exports to other countries in Asia and beyond .”
In November last year , Alibaba launched its first international electronic trading hub ( e-hub ) in Malaysia under the eWTP initiative . ra
Google to invest more than $ 500m in JD . com
E-COMMERCE company JD . com , Inc and technology giant Google announced that , as part of a strategic partnership , the latter will invest US $ 550 million in cash in JD . com .
Both parties plan to collaborate on a range of strategic initiatives , including joint development of retail solutions in a range of regions around the world , including South-east Asia , the US and Europe . By applying JD ’ s supply chain and logistics expertise and Google ’ s technology strengths , the two companies aim to explore the creation of next-generation retail infrastructure solutions , with the goal of offering helpful , personalised and frictionless shopping experiences . JD also plans to make a selection of high-quality products available for sale through Google Shopping in multiple regions .
JD . com ’ s chief strategy officer , Jianwen Liao , stated that the cooperation is a new chapter in its history . “ This partnership with Google opens up a broad range of possibilities to offer a superior retail experience to consumers throughout the world . This marks an important step in the process of modernising global retail ,” he said . “ We are excited to partner with
JD . com and explore new solutions for retail ecosystems around the world to enable helpful , personalised and frictionless shopping experiences that give consumers the power to shop wherever and however they want ,” said Philipp Schindler , chief business officer , Google .
Under the agreements , Google will receive 27,106,948 newly issued JD . com Class A ordinary shares at an issue price of US $ 20.29 per share , equivalent to US $ 40.58 per American Depositary Shares ( ADS ), based on the volume-weighted average trading price over the prior 10 trading days . ra
10 Retail Asia June / July 2018