Jack Ma plans tech institute in Indonesia

Jack Ma plans tech institute in Indonesia

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim (left) and Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma speak during a seminar at the IMF-World Bank meetings in Bali on Friday. (Reuters Photo)
World Bank President Jim Yong Kim (left) and Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma speak during a seminar at the IMF-World Bank meetings in Bali on Friday. (Reuters Photo)

NUSA DUA, Indonesia: Alibaba founder Jack Ma says he plans to open an institute to train thousands of tech entrepreneurs in Indonesia, where he is already an adviser to the government on e-commerce.

Ma did not say when the Jack Ma Institute of Entrepreneurs would launch, but said the aim was to train 1,000 tech leaders a year over the next 10 years.

“We’re giving a lot of opportunities for young Indonesian people to learn,” Ma told reporters after meeting Indonesian ministers on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings on the resort island of Bali.

The co-founder of China’s biggest e-commerce firm said it was important for Indonesia to invest in human capital because “only when people improve, when people’s minds change, when people’s skills improve, then we can enter the digital period”.

Indonesia has a shortage of trained engineers in technology and the institute will also train hundreds of developers and engineers on cloud computing to help make Indonesian businesses more digitally aware.

The country is a key market for Alibaba, whose Alibaba Cloud subsidiary launched a data centre in Indonesia in March.

Ma said his company would continue to invest “not only on e-commerce, but also cloud computing, logistics and … infrastructure” in Indonesia, while also helping local businesses to grow.

Indonesian Communications Minister Rudiantara told Reuters in September that Indonesia was partnering with Ma to look into ways to harness Alibaba’s businesses to increase its exports, particularly to China.

McKinsey estimated in a report released on Aug 30 that the value of Indonesia’s e-commerce market would surge to at least $55 billion by 2022 from $8 billion in 2017.

On Friday, Ma told a panel discussion at the IMF and World Bank meetings that “the internet is designed for developing countries”, with “great opportunities in Africa” also.

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