KUALA LUMPUR (June 18): Alibaba Group Holding Ltd opened a new national office, to deepen strategic cooperation with Malaysia, which is the first Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP) hub outside of China.

In a statement today, Alibaba said the new office, located here at The Vertical, Bangsar South, signifies the e-commerce's giant continued endeavour to bolster the technology capability of Malaysian SMEs and young entrepreneurs, provide support and platforms to assist them to drive exports, as well as offer extensive training programs to help them take advantage of digital innovations and trade opportunities.

"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," it said.

In November last year, Alibaba launched its first international eHub in Malaysia under the eWTP initiative, with an emphasis on facilitating exports for Malaysian SMEs and creating the infrastructure to support global trade with services encompassing e-commerce, logistics, cloud computing, mobile payment and talent training.

Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd's wholly-owned subsidiary MA eLogistics Sdn Bhd formed a joint venture (JV) with Cainiao Smart Logistics Network (Hong Kong) Ltd (Cainiao HK) for the development of a Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ) within KLIA Aeropolis.

Cainiao HK owns a 70% stake in the JV, which will be named Cainiao KLIA Aeropolis Sdn Bhd, while MA eLogistics owns the remaining 30%. The JV's issued and paid up capital is RM206.67 million.

Cainiao HK is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cainiao Smart Logistics Network (BVI) Ltd, which is in turn wholly owned by Cainiao Smart Logistics Network Ltd (Cainiao Cayman). Cainiao Cayman is an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

Since then, Alibaba said various initiatives have been undertaken by the group in Malaysia to build inclusive and innovative global trading technology infrastructure for local SMEs, including the establishment of Alibaba's first regional e-fulfilment hub in the KLIA Aeropolis DFTZ Park and the establishment of Alibaba Cloud's internet data centre in Malaysia's first global public cloud platform.

Alibaba also announced the date for the 'Malaysia Week' in China, a special online promotion initiative that seeks to attract Chinese consumers to buy all-things Malaysian from July 6 to 12, 2018.

"The Malaysia Week campaign is set to showcase an array of 'Must-see', 'Must-eat', and 'Must-experience' Malaysian products and tourism across Alibaba's platforms. More than 50 Malaysian brands, featuring a wide range of product categories, will be showcased, in addition to a whole host of exciting promotional activities to be launched during the period. 'Malaysia Week' is the result of fruitful discussions between Alibaba Group and Malaysia since the launch of eWTP," the group said.

Alibaba also said it has established a one-stop platform to provide export facilitation with services ranging from marketing and customs clearance, to streamlined permit application procedures and tax declaration and more.

On top of that, the group had hosted March Expo with MDEC and MATRADE to connect Malaysian wholesalers with global sales opportunities, while it held an "Access to China Consumers" seminar to help Malaysian exporters enter the China market with participation of more than 500 Malaysian merchants.