Alibaba Group announces investment plans in Thailand

[webfact]

Alibaba Group announces investment plans in Thailand

 

 

BANGKOK, 19th April 2018 (NNT)-Alibaba Group has announced its plans to invest in Thailand's Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC). 

Alibaba Group Chairman Jack Ma and a group of the company’s executives, this week visited Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha at the Government House in Bangkok, where they also met Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak to discuss their EEC investment plans and cooperation with the Thai government on digital industrial and human resource development in eCommerce. 

In doing so, the company will sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Ministry of Industry which will lead to the establishment of a smart digital hub in the EEC to facilitate trade between Thailand, China, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam. 

The company will also work with the Department of Industrial Promotion and the Department of International Trade Promotion under the MOU to provide eCommerce knowledge to Thai entrepreneurs. 

In addition, the Alibaba Group and the Ministry of Industry will launch a digital eCommerce skills development program to raise the competitiveness of those running start-up businesses as well as small and medium enterprises. 

The giant eCommerce company will also work with the Tourism Authority of Thailand to set up a Thai tourism online platform to promote both major and secondary tourist cities across the country. It is said eCommerce businesses in Thailand will generate up to 180 billion baht by 2022.

 

-- nnt 2018-04-19

[Tilacme]

Welcome to the party 

 

[Ossy]

If little but very, very rich Jack Ma can help me get my hands on a the latest Yamaha R1M, he'll certainly get a drink if he comes round to my place. That's if he's recovered from P1's death squeeze, of course . . . it looked excruciating to say the least.

[Darcula]

The magic phrase for this treasure trove is Open Somtam. Read all about it in the latest edition of Ali Baba and The Forty Thais.

[Tilacme]

6 minutes ago, Ossy said:

If little but very, very rich Jack Ma can help me get my hands on a the latest Yamaha R1M, he'll certainly get a drink if he comes round to my place. That's if he's recovered from P1's death squeeze, of course . . . it looked excruciating to say the least.

Have you tried Big Square or are you holding out for Jack to fund a bike you are too old for.

[Ossy]

18 minutes ago, Tilacme said:

Have you tried Big Square or are you holding out for Jack to fund a bike you are too old for.

'Big Square' . . . you've got me there. Looked on Alibaba and the nearest thing, there, is a massive tent, like scouts use. And who says 37's too old for one of those beauts, anyway? An R1M, that is . . . not a tent

[DrTuner]

Is there any place on the planet Jack is not making moves in?

[ratcatcher]

3 minutes ago, DrTuner said:

Is there any place on the planet Jack is not making moves in?

North Korea?

[kannot]

is the man on the left Thaksins "mini-me"???

[monkfish]

I can see huge benefits for Alibaba getting a better grip on Thailands huge potential eCommerse market but what's Thailand going to get out of it apart from a Tourist website? which quite frankly could easily just be outsourced. P.M looks happy though so must be good deal in it.

[BigBadGeordie]

6 hours ago, DrTuner said:

Is there any place on the planet Jack is not making moves in?

Threadneedle Street, City, London EC2R 8AH.

 

Oh dear me, just checked, looks like I got that wrong.

 

So, the answer is, NO.

 

Unless someone knows better?

[webfact]

Jack Ma pours billions in big boost to Thai economy

By WASAMON AUDJARINT, 
ASINA PORNWASIN, 
WICHIT CHAITRONG 
THE NATION

 

PM General Prayut Chan-o-cha exchanges a warm handshake with Alibaba Group founder and executive chairman Jack Ma, who visited Thailand yesterday.

 

Investment will enable the use of digital technology to boost the competitiveness of lowincome farmers.

 

CHINESE e-commerce giant Alibaba Group has committed to invest a combined Bt11 billion in Thailand in a move that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said could benefit the country’s small farmers and rural enterprises due to the firm’s expertise in diverse technology.

 

 

“Jack Ma [Alibaba’s co-founder and executive chairman] told me he does not solely look for profits because [Alibaba] already has enough,” Prayut said after his meeting with the Chinese tycoon. “So he aims to help low-income farmers and other people using digital technology to boost their competitiveness on online market platforms.”

 

 

Ma, who was on in Bangkok yesterday, also met with deputy premier Somkid Jatusripitak at Government House before signing four memorandums of understanding (MoUs), marking the start of Alibaba’s significant investment in Thailand’s much-heralded Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) as well as a related “Smart City” project. Other signed agreements involved tourism promotion, digital economy and human resource development programmes.

 

 

Ma has been to Thailand several times and in 2016, he also met with Prayut during the G20 summit in China’s Hangzhou city. However, the Chinese e-commerce giant made its first investment within Asean in Malaysia, raising questions whether the Prayut government’s “Thailand 4.0” initiative was compelling enough to attract Alibaba.

 

Prayut said he personally asked Ma to help promote Thai agricultural products, particularly palm oil, rice and para rubber as well as cooperatives, community enterprises and modern farming using digital and related technologies and Alibaba’s expertise in e-commerce and related fields.

 

“[Alibaba] also runs schools for business and e-commerce development that can help Thai SMEs and rural entrepreneurs,” Prayut said, adding there were mutual benefits from the cooperation with Alibaba.

 

The Thai government’s policy is to facilitate trade and investment, turning Thailand into an investment hub, according to the prime minister.

 

 

In response, Ma said that Alibaba focuses a lot on Asia and the Internet is a great opportunity in Asia. The collaboration with Thailand included “Go to China”, meaning bringing Thai local farm goods, such as rice and fruits to the huge Chinese market and “Go to Thailand” meaning bringing more Chinese tourists to Thailand. 

 

 

“Today’s MoUs are the initial phase of our long-term commitment to be a strategic partner with this country. Our strategy is a global vision, to partner with the countries having the same belief in the future, technology, e-commerce, SMEs, and young people,” said Ma.

 

Commerce Minister Sonthirat Sonthijirawong said the ministry would drive the digital economy by promoting e-commerce platforms to allow Thai farmers and other producers to sell to China, citing the Thai Rice Flagship Store on Alibaba’s Tmall.com as an example. Other Thai products will be on sale on Tmall.com, China’s largest online marketplace which reaches more than 1.4 billion consumers.

 

 

In addition, the Industry Ministry will work with the Chinese e-commerce giant to use the Alibaba Business School as a platform for training Thai entrepreneurs.

 

Meanwhile, Saowaruj Rattanakhamfu, a researcher who conducted a study of the EEC project, said that Ma’s investment in the EEC could also draw other foreign investors to the region but the challenge is how Thailand could take advantage of investment in ICT. 

 

She expressed concern about the skills of the local ICT workforce. “There are about 170 education institutions that teach 430 ICT-related curriculums, but the graduates are not qualified enough for the jobs or do not meet industry demands,” she said.

 

“So far we do not know which university has a reputation in what specific field of ICT,” she said. One problem is that technology is changing fast. 

 

Learning from the experience of other countries, the Thai government, universities and private companies, may jointly organise six months re-training for those graduates to hone their skills, particularly in disruptive technology such as artificial intelligence, she said. 

 

 

The government could also relax conditions for smart visas offered to specialists who earn a monthly salary of Bt200,000 to stay four years in Thailand. For example, those have an income of Bt100,000 could also get a smart visa but only for a three-year stay, she said. 

 

Prinya Hom -anek, president and chief executive officer at ACIS Professional Centre Co, who is in the information security business, said the local IT industry feels the government has preferred giant foreign investors, such as Ma ,but Thai authorities have not yet created a conducive investment-friendly environment for local technological start-ups.

 

New, friendly regulations such as those related to fundraising via initial coin offering have not yet been put in place. Thai IT entrepreneurs still prefer to register their companies in Singapore where it is much easier to do IT-related businesses, he said. 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/business/30343520

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-04-20

[Bob12345]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

“Jack Ma [Alibaba’s co-founder and executive chairman] told me he does not solely look for profits because [Alibaba] already has enough,” Prayut said

Reminds me of that friendly Nigerian prince who emailed me last week...

[Soi Dog]

One Belt, One Road, One Noose.

 

[yellowboat]

The word "sucker" comes to mind.  Hope the contracts state arbitration in Singapore.  Hope he has the same lawyers the Japanese auto guys have.

[chainarong]

Beijing Jack by Beijing for Beijing.

[ChrisY1]

Jack Ma is no-ones fool....if he decides to invest billions, you can be sure he'll be taking billions out!

[monkfish]

No mention of what Jack gets out of the deal.
An online platform for selling rice to Chinese!
So Thai farmers sell rice direct to Chinese?
That idea is just gonna flop straight out the gates.

[Thian]

4 minutes ago, monkfish said:

No mention of what Jack gets out of the deal.
An online platform for selling rice to Chinese!
So Thai farmers sell rice direct to Chinese?
That idea is just gonna flop straight out the gates.

Farmer Somchai will get a computer with internet so he can put his harvest for sale online directly to the chinese.

It doesn't matter that Somchai has no electricity...he'll also get chinese solar panels.

 

But if his computer has crashed he needs to hire one of the 200.000 baht/month experts to fix it...

[Muhendis]

Perhaps customs duty will now be abolished for all Chinese goods?

[djayz]

15 hours ago, ratcatcher said:

North Korea?

Not yet... 

When the two Koreas are reunited, then there'll be a big, hungry market to sell to. 

[heybuz]

I believe he is Australian Chinese

[Srikcir]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Alibaba Group has committed to invest a combined Bt11 billion in Thailand

Here is what Thailand gets from Alibaba's "investment" :

• lead the establishment of a smart digital hub in the EEC to facilitate trade between Thailand, China, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam. 

• work with the Department of Industrial Promotion and the Department of International Trade Promotion to provide eCommerce knowledge to Thai entrepreneurs. 

• launch a digital eCommerce skills development program

• introduce an internet flagship store (no brick & mortar) for Thai rice, etc. for Chinese market

The above seem to involve largely if not completely internet training and software activities (design, coding, launch). I have no knowledge with the cost of such services but Bt11 billion seems substantially inflated even if one (unreasonably?) presumes Thailand has no current talent, software SME's and existing internet hubs to lend internet marketing expertise (but Lazada Thailand, Home Pro, Tesco come immediately to mind). I wouldn't be surprised that Alibaba has "blueprints" to use in establishing clone-Alibaba internet sales platforms.

 

If this Bt11 billion is not reimbursable as seems to be the case by referring to it as an "investment" and if one trusts the Prayut government to characterize it as such (!?), I'm sure Alibaba won't be prevented from a profit by the Chinese government from for example charging hidden end-customer fees (like a VAT) perhaps built into marketing prices. Furthermore, I'd expect Alibaba would recover at least its capital investment by some intellectual property charge paid by the Thai government.

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Learning from the experience of other countries, the Thai government, universities and private companies, may jointly organise six months re-training for those graduates to hone their skills, particularly in disruptive technology such as artificial intelligence

Okay. But the Alibaba investment seems to bypass such learning opportunity as a much greater cost to Thailand.

5 hours ago, webfact said:

“So far we do not know which university has a reputation in what specific field of ICT,”

So know!

Maybe the Thai government should be first to inventory the nation's existing digital expertise before contracting with China. Even the RTM itself has used Thai digital expertise to design and establish e-commerce marketing platforms. It seems to me that the MOU essentially gives Alibaba a dedicated vertical integration monopoly with Thailand's e-commerce connection with China. But hey, Alibaba isn't concerned about making a profit!?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[klauskunkel]

The PM regales his new best friend with his newest creative effort:

"The Ode to Ma":

[impulse]

15 hours ago, monkfish said:

I can see huge benefits for Alibaba getting a better grip on Thailands huge potential eCommerse market but what's Thailand going to get out of it apart from a Tourist website? which quite frankly could easily just be outsourced. P.M looks happy though so must be good deal in it.

 

Over the past few years, the Chinese equivalents of Pantip and Fortune town in the city where I stay in China have become virtual ghost towns.  Everyone's shopping online.  Not that I believe they had a sustainable business model (hundreds of kiosks in the same building selling the exact same stuff), but it's sure put a lot of people out of work.

 

[sammieuk1]

  I see people with collections rubbing wrists in anticipation and the tap to trickle down firmly turned off.  

[Srikcir]

49 minutes ago, Muhendis said:

Perhaps customs duty will now be abolished for all Chinese goods?

China and Thailand had a 2003 Free Trade Agreement on farm trade alone and became participants in broader agricultural markets between China and ASEAN FTA in 2010 to exempt duties.

Since then a vast variety of goods from China have been included in FTA's that have eliminated or reduced the import duties on items such as dairy products, pharmaceutical products, paper, commercial trucks, aluminum structures, dishwashers and other products to facilitate trade with China and other Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members. https://bizfluent.com/list-7590221-import-duties-china-thailand.html

But in recent history we saw that import of NGV buses manufactured in China are not exempt from Thailand import duties. That said, the trade relationship between China and Thailand seems to be more a concern with Thailand's custom duties than with China's custom duties.

So why not further Thailand's pseudo-provincial relationship with China by eliminating custom duties on all Chinese goods.

[DLock]

2 hours ago, yellowboat said:

The word "sucker" comes to mind.  Hope the contracts state arbitration in Singapore.  Hope he has the same lawyers the Japanese auto guys have.

 

Jack Ma is no sucker.

 

You can be sure that any investment deal will be squarely in his favor.

 

He has the money. Thai's want the money. Thai's are blinded by that money. Jack will get what Jack wants.

 

You don't get that rich being a sucker.

[Thian]

36 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

Over the past few years, the Chinese equivalents of Pantip and Fortune town in the city where I stay in China have become virtual ghost towns.  Everyone's shopping online.  Not that I believe they had a sustainable business model (hundreds of kiosks in the same building selling the exact same stuff), but it's sure put a lot of people out of work.

 

Yup Thailand missed the boat again, now the chinese got it.

 

I see deliverycars/motobikes every day here from lalamove and so...that's from online shopping.

 

We also hate to go shopping, even with the new skytrain it's not comfortable to go into the city which is far too busy.

 

Why did the Thai wait so long before starting some decent online shops? Oh wait, they can't trust eachother, well they'll pay the price for that now.

 

Yes there's the lazada which is very complicated and thinks we're stupid with their 40-50% discount ALL THE TIME...That's such an old trick...

[harada]

Welcome to Chailand comrades.