By SHAHEERA AZNAM SHAH / Pic By BLOOMBERG

Alibaba Business School, the education arm of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, has established its first training programme for Malaysian entrepreneurs to facilitate the country’s trade and digital economy development.

Alibaba said in a statement that the programme, namely the Alibaba Netpreneur Training Programme, is a collaboration between Alibaba Business School, Malaysian Digital Economy Corp, Malaysia External Trade Development Corp (Matrade) and SME Corp Malaysia.

“Under the electronic world trade platform (eWTP) agreement with Malaysia, Alibaba is committed to facilitating the development of inclusive trade and digital economy through the electronic trade infrastructure and adoption of best practices,” it said yesterday.

Alibaba global initiatives VP Brian A Wong said the programme will assist entrepreneurs in exploring the digital opportunities and adapting innovation into their businesses.

“The programme is a part of our ongoing initiatives under the eWTP programme, which aims at addressing various challenges faced by Malaysia’s entrepreneurs and help convert these challenges into opportunities.

“By sharing Alibaba’s experience of building China’s business ecosystem, we hope to spark new ideas and provide inspiration to the participants’ digital journey,” he said.

Matrade deputy CEO Sharimahton Mat Saleh said the programme will help equip local businesses with the fundamental knowledge required to compete globally through a digital platform in order to achieve broader outcomes.

“With the importance of the digital economy as an enabler in today’s export business, this initiative will help boost Malaysian small and medium enterprises’ contribution in the international trade,” she said.

The 10-day programme, which will be conducted at Alibaba’s headquarters in Hangzhou, China, in two batches, will provide participants with a fundamental understanding of the digital economy, insights on the evolution of Alibaba’s ecosystem and the foundation of strategic thinking of traditional businesses in China.