Alibaba Group announced that its first electronic world trade platform (eWTP) outside of China was launched at a ceremony in Malaysia on November 3. The ceremony was hosted by Malaysian Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak and Alibaba Group Chairman Jack Ma.
The groundbreaking event follows Alibaba’s announcement in March of a partnership with the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), which launched the Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ) earlier this yr to assist Malaysian small and medium-sized businesses profit from global trade.
Below are the important thing points that Southeast Asians should know, along with the concept of Alibaba’s latest business within the region, about this groundbreaking achievement by Alibaba Group:
1. Both DFTZ and eWTP, The brainchild of Jack Ma, they share one common goal – to assist SMEs overcome complex regulations, processes and barriers, and ultimately encourage businesses and merchants to attach and collaborate in cross-border trade.”
2. This will drive the implementation of the Malaysian E-Commerce Development Plan unveiled in 2016, which goals to double the expansion of e-commerce within the country and increase its share in GDP to roughly US$47.68 billion by 2020.
3. Implementation of DFTZ physical AND virtual zones can be implemented in stages. The physical zone includes the Order Fulfillment Center and the Satellite Services Center, while the virtual zone includes the Electronic Services Platform.
4. The first phase of DFTZ is a warehouse near Kuala Lumpur International Airport, which can be operated by domestic courier POS Malaysia. It can be positioned at KLIA Aeropolis, a key cluster of air cargo and logistics, aviation and aerospace.
5. Phase two of the zone, a brand new 24-hectare facility to be jointly developed by Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad and Cainiao Network, Alibaba’s logistics arm, is anticipated to start operations in 2020.
6. Both facilities hope to halve the time required for border clearance and cargo handling, from six hours to 3 hours.
7. 1972 SMEs have applied for membership within the DFTZ. The DFTZ is anticipated to create 60,000 direct and indirect jobs by 2025.
8. During the launch, ALIBABA Cloud, Alibaba Group’s cloud computing arm, opened its data center in Malaysia. This can be an extension of Alibaba Cloud’s 14 data centers worldwide, covering mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Australia, the Middle East, Europe, and the US (East and West Coast).
9. Alipay and Maybank & Alipay and CIMB have signed a partnership to launch Alipay barcode payments in Malaysia. This partnership will allow mainland Chinese tourists to make payments using their favorite payment method—their Alipay e-wallet. This will provide Malaysian merchants with exposure to the massive Chinese market.
10. Kuala Lumpur Internet City (KLIC) can be DFTZ’s first satellite service centre and can be expanded by one other strategic partner, Catcha Group.
Source: Various sources including Xinhua News Agency, Singapore’s The Straits Times, MDEC official website and Tech Wire Asia.
