Malaysian PM seeks Alibaba inspiration for home grown global e-trade

Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak visits the headquarters of China's e-trade giant Alibaba in Hangzhou on Friday, May 12, 2017. [Photo provided by Alibaba Group]

On his way to the prestigious Belt and Road forum in Beijing, Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak has made a stopover at the headquarters of China's e-trade giant Alibaba in Hangzhou on Friday.

He was there at the personal invitation of the founder of Alibaba, Jack Ma, who gave the prime minister and his wife a personal tour of the complex.

Ma is a digital economy advisor to the Malaysian Government, and the Prime Minister believes China's e-commerce technology could provide an important boost to his country's economic growth.

Najib Razak is also interested in the way that Alibaba's online shopping platform Taobao has rolled out into Chinese villages, could also help Malaysia's "smart village" project.

Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak poses photo with Jack Ma on Friday, May 12, 2017. [Photo provided by Alibaba Group]

Jack Ma has said he believes that Malaysia's Free Trade Zone will be the first digital hub of the electronic world trade platform outside China and is hoping the hub will be an inspiration to other developing countries.

The electronic world trade platform, established by Alibaba, aims to help create a modern version of the ancient Silk Road trade route.

Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak visits the headquarters of China's e-trade giant Alibaba in Hangzhou on Friday, May 12, 2017. [Photo provided by Alibaba Group]

Founded in 1999, Alibaba has created 36,000 jobs and has radically changed the industrial ecosystem in China, with a focus on making trade dynamic and inclusive.

In just 13 years, transactions have reached 3 Trillion Yuan, about 430 billion US Dollars.