Alibaba’s Jack Ma reassures investors China-Malaysia business ties are strong, despite government reviews
Ma told business leaders in Kuala Lumpur that problems were natural between countries with strong economic ties and it was the job of ‘people like us’ to solve them
Alibaba Group’s co-founder Jack Ma on Monday sought to allay concerns about Malaysia’s ongoing review of Beijing-backed investment deals, but at the same time he urged Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s one-month-old government to keep the country’s doors open to Chinese investors.
Speaking after a meeting with Mahathir – the first by a Chinese entrepreneur since Malaysia’s landmark polls on May 9 – Ma hailed the 92-year-old premier as a “legend” and vowed to boost job creation and technology transfers in the country.
His two-day visit to Malaysia also saw him open Alibaba Group’s new office near Kuala Lumpur – its first country office in Southeast Asia, as well as take in meetings with Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng and Chinese ambassador Bai Tian.
Ma said Malaysia’s “Multimedia Super Corridor” initiative, Mahathir’s brainchild during his first tenure as premier from 1981 to 2003, served as an inspiration for him to co-found Alibaba Group, the South China Morning Post’s owner.
The general election saw Mahathir roundly defeat the long-ruling Barisan Nasional coalition he once belonged to which was led by his scandal-tainted protégé-turned-rival Najib Razak.