KL, Alibaba launch digital free trade zone

“We want to redefine global trade... I look forward to the rebirth of the new Silk Road,” said Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak at the event, which was also officiated by Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba.
“With DFTZ, small businesses can use the digital way to sell and buy things. They can also buy global and sell global,” said Ma.
The first phase of DFTZ is a warehousing facility close to Kuala Lumpur International Airport to be operated by national courier, POS Malaysia. 
The former cargo terminal has already been transformed into a full-fledged warehouse with sorting, shelving and pick-pack facilities that deploy automated guidance vehicles. The facility will initially serve Lazada, the region’s largest online retail mall. Alibaba holds an 83-per-cent stake in Lazada after injecting US$2 billion (Bt66.5 billion) in investments into the Singapore-based start-up.
Najib and Ma, who was made digital economy adviser to the Malaysian government last November, also held a ground-breaking ceremony to mark the zone’s second phase, to be jointly developed by Malaysia Airports Holdings and Cainiao Network, Alibaba’s logistics arm. This facility will begin operations in 2020. Both facilities hope to halve border clearance and handling times for cargo to three hours.
At the launch, Alibaba went live with its electronic trading hub, which will help Malaysian businesses in e-commerce, logistics and cloud computing, as well as in exporting their goods.
Responding to questions about Alibaba’s plans in the region after Malaysia’s DFTZ, Ma said: “We are interested in building infrastructure… Next is cloud computing for small businesses. Third is training courses for young people to learn how to do business.”