7 December 2017

Minister in Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Dr Ir Wee Ka Siong pays courtesy call on Alibaba Group Headquarters

Minister in the Prime Minister Department Datuk Seri Dr. Wee Ka Siong visited Alibaba Headquarters in Hangzhou, China, and was received by Song Juntao, Head of Alibaba’s eWTP Project (2^nd from left) and Kevin Lin, Alibaba Group Vice President & LST Business Unit General Manager (2^nd from right). Also joined in the visit are Neil Foo (Left), the CEO of Secretariat for the Advancement of Malaysian Entrepreneurs (SAME) and Dato’ Lee Tian Hock (Right), Vice Chairman of Superant Technology Sdn Bhd

 Hangzhou, China, 7 Dec – MCA Deputy President Datuk Seri Ir Dr Wee Ka Siong, who is also the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, made a visit to the headquarters of the Alibaba Group on 7 Dec 2017, where he was welcomed by Mr Song Juntao, head of Alibaba’s eWTP Project. Both sides deliberated on ways to deepen cooperation in e-commerce between the two countries. The visit also marks the first time a Cabinet Minister has made a courtesy call to Alibaba, which was carried out to reciprocate the courtesy call by Alibaba Group’s founder Jack Ma, who had visited Malaysia twice this year in order to implement the nation’s Digital Free Trade Zone which is also the Group’s first eWTP overseas base.

After participating in the 4^th World Internet Conference which was held in Wuzhen, China, Datuk Seri Dr Ir Wee Ka Siong then paid a visit on behalf of Malaysia to Alibaba Group’s headquarters in Hangzhou. The delegation had first visited the Group’s data centre whereby they had listened to a briefing made by the centre’s person-in charge, before attending a meeting with several of the Group’s executives. Representing the Alibaba Group were Song Juntao, Alibaba Group Vice President & LST Business Unit General Manager Kevin Lin, Alibaba Strategic Investment Managing Director & Group Vice President Justin Chen, Alibaba International Government Affairs Deputy Director Yao Yao, and Alibaba Public Affairs Department Senior Specialist Albert Zhang.

In his welcoming speech, Song Juntao said that Malaysia was chosen to host the DFTZ, which is Alibaba Group’s first eWTP overseas, because Malaysia was an important hub in the Maritime Silk Road, and also because of Malaysia’s move to develop “digital economy”. Both these factors are highly compatible with the eWTP’s concept, and also allows room for the development of local SMEs.

Song Juntao also pointed out that, “since the official launch of the DFTZ by Jack Ma and Malaysia’s Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib Tun Razak on 4^th November, many big developers and electronic financial companies have started to move into Malaysia. At the same time, training programmes for local SMEs in Malaysia have also commenced.”

Datuk Seri Dr Ir Wee Ka Siong in return expressed the Malaysian government’s pleasure in being able to collaborate with the Alibaba Group to develop the DFTZ and to make Malaysia its first eWTP hub. He said that, “this project was not merely a good initiative, but also a means to redefine global trade and the huge e-commerce industry.” Adding that “Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib Tun Razak had made the decision to implement the eWTP merely minutes after meeting with Jack Ma last year. From then, it only took a short time to submit the proposal, the planning and putting the plan into operation,” he remarked “that this proves the Malaysian government’s positive attitude and high expectations of the plan.”

He also said that, “the government’s decision to implement the DFTZ was well received by the people, and that Malaysia has taken active measures to promote its development. For example, the first Asian Retail Trade and O2O Conference and Expo 2017 which was initiated by the Secretariat for the Advancement of Malaysian Entrepreneurs (SAME) under the Prime Minister’s Department, was successfully held in September of this year which had attracted over 1,500 people locally and abroad. This huge response had far exceeded the organiser’s expectations and confirms that e-commerce is widely popular amongst the people.”

Datuk Wee Ka Siong, who is also responsible for the development of SME’s in Malaysia, added that, “97% of Malaysian businesses are SMEs which contribute 37% of the nation’s GDP.” He also expressed his confidence that, “the DFTZ can help local SME’s enter the global arena, integrate with the overseas market, and help move the nations towards globalisation.”

“The new concept of retail shopping, cloud technology, big data and so on initiated by Alibaba Group will enable local SMEs to be more competitive in the international arena, and to be more efficient and compatible. With Alibaba’s help, Malaysia’s DFTZ will become the digital backbone of our logistics, payment, customs clearance and data integration, thus becoming the infrastructure for the development of our nation’s digital economy and a present a window of opportunity for local SMEs to open up to the world.”

Datuk Seri Dr Ir Wee Ka Siong also informed that Alibaba Group’s 5 “new” strategies which are “new retail”, “new finance”, “new manufacturing”, “new technology” and “new energy resources” will completely change the pattern for future industries.
“Therefore, Malaysia must take a comprehensive approach in promoting and mastering new emerging technologies. This is particular applies to traditional industry players.”

Later, Datuk Seri Dr Ir Wee Ka Siong and the Malaysian delegation were given a briefing on Alibaba Group’s retail chain, which is an internet-based one-stop shopping centre launched by Alibaba Group to enable offline retail stores to provide order, logistics, marketing and value-added service to retail outlets in urban communities, and to upgrade retail shops which are yet to go online. At the same time, it also provides a business platform for both the online and offline retail shops.

The Malaysian delegation who accompanied Datuk Seri Dr Ir Wee Ka Siong to visit the Alibaba Group’s headquarters included SAME Chief Executive Officer Neil Foo under the Prime Minister’s Department, Managing Director of Superant Technology Sdn Bhd Dato’ Lee Tian Hock, and CEO of Superant Technology Sdn Bhd David Lim.

Minister in the Prime Minister Department Datuk Seri Dr. Wee Ka Siong (2^nd from right) meeting the top management of Alibaba Group during his visit to Alibaba Headquarter in Hangzhou, China. From left right are: Kevin Lin, Alibaba Group Vice President & LST Business Unit General Manager; Song Juntao, Head of Alibaba’s eWTP Project; Justin Chen, Alibaba Strategic Investment Managing Director & Alibaba Group Vice President; Albert Zhang, Alibaba Public Affairs Department Senior Specialist; David Lim, Managing Director of Superant Technology Sdn Bhd; Neil Foo (Left), the CEO of Secretariat for the Advancement of Malaysian Entrepreneurs (SAME) and Dato’ Lee Tian Hock (Right), Vice Chairman of Superant Technology Sdn Bhd.

Datuk Seri Dr Ir Wee Ka Siong

MCA Deputy President

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department

// End