Najib Shakes Hands With Jack Ma And Takes A Selfie With Usain Bolt
- Details
- Published on Thursday, 23 March 2017 10:09
Four months after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Alibaba Group chairman Jack Ma's meeting last November, Malaysia's Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ), which will be the world's first outside of China, was finally launched yesterday.
On his blog najibrazak.com, the prime minister relayed, the DFTZ will be an inclusive initiative that will help the small and medium enterprises (SME) to prosper and have greater presence in our country and the region's businesses and industries.
It is expected to generate trade worth US$65bil (RM286bil) by 2025 as well as aims to create 60,000 direct and indirect jobs by then.
"DFTZ will merge the physical and virtual spaces, providing offline as well as online digital services.
"The e-Fulfillment Hub aims to help SMEs and businesses in exporting their goods easily, the Satelite Services Hub will be the region's digital hub for global and local internet-based companies facilitating end-to-end support.
"The third component of DFTZ is the e-Services platform that will manage cargo clearance and other processes needed for cross-border trade," he wrote, adding that the first e-Fulfillment Hub will be located at KLIA Aeropolis.
Ma, who is a recognised global leader in online and mobile commerce and is also the Malaysian Government's digital economy advisor, heaped praise for the country saying: "Malaysia is very business friendly, it is very efficient and much more efficient than I thought."
After the launch, the prime minister also sat down for dinner at Nobu restaurant with the Global Transformation Forum (GTF) high-profile speakers, Usain Bolt, Sir Richard Branson, Chris Gardner, Dr Paul Romer, apart from Ma himself, among others – for the two-day forum which will be ending today.
On his Facebook page, he shared a photograph of the moment saying: "A great evening exchanging thoughts!", before proceeding to take a mandatory selfie with the fastest man in the world.
"Very tall and lean man," says Najib of the Jamaican sprinter who will be giving his one-hour talk today under 'Transformation Masterclass I' at 3.15pm.
Earlier in his speech at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre during the opening of GTF, Najib stated: "The Global Transformation Forum is about bringing speakers and delegates from around the world to be exposed to creative and innovative solutions to challenging global problems, and to drive transformation. And to hear first hand their experience and how they've done it.
"We're all here to discover how some of the most successful and iconic business leaders embrace change in this increasingly unpredictable and fast-paced world. How do the greatest sportsmen of our time consistently deliver world-breaking records? What inspires a nation's leader to catalyse positive socioeconomic change without compromising on fiscal governance?," while urging for Malaysians to unite to continue the transformation and build the Malaysia we all want.
-mD
