China’s Alibaba Group is to set up a trading and logistics hub in Malaysia as part of its efforts to establish an electronic world trade platform.
The e-commerce giant said the Malaysian “e-hub”, the first such initiative outside the company’s home base in Hangzhou, was being set up in collaboration with the Malaysia Digital Economy Cooperation (MDEC) agency.
It will cater to small and medium sized businesses that have ambitions of spreading their wings beyond local borders.
Alibaba’s executive chairman, Jack Ma, and the Malaysian prime minister, Najib Razak, attended the project’s launch ceremony in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday afternoon.
The project’s first phase, slated for completion by the end of 2019, involves the development of a regional logistics hub near the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. The facility in the KLIA Aeropolis zone would “function as a centralised customs clearance, warehousing, and fulfilment facility for Malaysia and the region”, said the technology giant, the owner of the South China Morning Post.
