City of Sydney’s Future Asia Business Summit – Alibaba and others
I was a guest at the City of Sydney’s Future Asia Business Summit recently on 23 February 2017. Alibaba’s managing director of Australia and New Zealand Maggie Zhou said Australian brands are in a position to meet demand for quality products and services, but only if they embrace new digital platforms.
For many years I have watched Jack Ma, Founder of Alibaba group rise from humble beginnings to become an inspiration around the world. It was pleasing to find that Alibaba has started an office for this Australasian region.
Maggie Zhou is Alibaba’s managing director of Australia and New Zealand Maggie Zhou. At the Summit she said Australian brands are in a great position embrace new digital platforms. She said that there has never been a better time to be an Australian brand or retailer. Using technology as a powerful enabler has given local businesses unprecedented access to global markets. She also believes that Sydney and the rest of Australia is renowned for its quality of life and through e-commerce consumers all over the world can buy the products that make this possible. Maggie Zhou encourages Australian businesses to be aware of the convergence of media, entertainment and the various forms of payments and shopping via offline online and retail platforms.
The City of Sydney’s third international Future Asia Business Summit attracted many from the government, private and business community. The Summit provided networking opportunities and a panel session to explore strengthening of Australia-Asia opportunities and overcoming challenges. Thank you to the City of Sydney and sponsors for hosting the Future Asia Business Summit
Photo: Dr Caroline Hong with Maggie Zhou (Alibaba Group), July 2015, Sydney.
Photo: Future Asia Business Summit, January 2017, Sydney.
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
About Alibaba Australia and New Zealand
– Extract from Business Insider: By Tony Yoo
4 February 2017 – http://www.businessinsider.com.au/jack-ma-just-opened-alibaba-australia-and-new-zealand-in-melbourne-2017-2
MELBOURNE — The second wealthiest man in China, Jack Ma, has opened an Australian and New Zealand headquarters for his e-commerce company Alibaba.
Ma launched the Melbourne office today in front of more than 350 business and political figures keen to see the man that built a fortune worth at least $36 billion from humble beginnings.
“Alibaba Group will help Australian and New Zealand businesses share their world-famous products with billons of customers around the world,” he said.
Ma has a personal link to Australia from his teenage years when, as a 12 year old boy, he befriended an family from Newcastle that was visiting his hometown of Hangzhou. He later visited the Morley family in Newcastle as a teenager in the 1980s.
“Australia will always have a special place in my heart and that’s why I’m so pleased to come back to contribute to supporting Australian businesses to create opportunities and jobs in a country that’s meant so much for me.”
Alibaba ANZ managing director Maggie Zhou said that a physical regional headquarters in Melbourne would be “a key step” in supporting local business customers crack the lucrative Chinese market.
“Longer term, Alibaba Group’s vision for the ANZ region is to build the entire operating infrastruture needed to enable local businesses to expand globally,” she said.
———————————–