KUALA LUMPUR: Alibaba Group executive chairman Jack Ma has launched the group's first office in South-East Asia here at the UOA corporate building in Bangsar South.
The official launch took place after Ma arrived at the building accompanied by Chinese ambassador Bai Tian.
Ma was greeted by a crowd of office staff from the same building.
"We are not from Alibaba. We saw the news that he will be here today. So we are here to see Jack Ma during our lunch break," said an excited person from a nearby office.
Earlier, Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo arrived at the Alibaba office here.
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng will also be here for the opening ceremony of Alibaba KL office.
Ma met Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad earlier on Monday (June 18) in Putrajaya and said he was surprised at the Prime Minister's knowledge about technology.
He said that during the one-hour meeting, they shared a lot of ideas and discussed how to lift more Malaysians out of poverty and support more young people and small businesses.
Ma was in Malaysia last November to attend the groundbreaking launch of DFTZ with former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
DFTZ, which was launched by the previous administration, is an e-hub set up by the Alibaba Group and the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC).
The project is expected to double the goods exported by small and medium enterprises, create 60,000 jobs locally and facilitate US$ 65bil worth of traded goods by 2025.
Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/06/18/jack-ma-launches-first-alibaba-office-in-bangsar-south/#o8eT5EbeErvGAEkR.99
