International Trade Centre and Alibaba.com join forces to support digital business success

Together, the parties will help micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) enhance their international export competitiveness and contribute to sustainable development by better utilising e-commerce platform opportunities.

Daniel Zhang, chairman of the Board and CEO of Alibaba Group, delivered a speech through video conference at the launching ceremony. He said that the pandemic has continued to pose challenges to global trade over the past two years, but challenges always go hand in hand with opportunities.

Daniel Zhang, chairman of the board and CEO of Alibaba Group, addressing the launching ceremony

He said a large number of MSMEs are exploring digital pathways to conduct and even sustainably scale up their business. Digital trade has become the engine leading the global trade transformation and is reshaping the world economy.

ITC executive director Pamela Coke-Hamilton believes that e-commerce is a key channel for global MSMEs to achieve rapid growth.

As the joint agency of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations, ITC is fully dedicated to connecting MSMEs to global markets and committed to working towards the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by promoting trade that benefits the people and the planet.

Alibaba.com is a leading cross-border B2B e-commerce platform with over 20 million buyers from approximately 190 countries having sourced business opportunities or completed transactions on Alibaba.com.

“While global trade is currently facing many uncertainties, the trend of digitalisation is a certainty," Zhang Kuo, general manager of Alibaba.com said.

Companies of the project come from the developing countries of Africa, Latin America, and Asia including Bolivia, Colombia, Ethiopia, Mozambique, and Myanmar, spanning a wide range of industries such as food and beverage and consumer goods.

Yi Xiaozhun, former Vice Minister of Commerce and former Deputy Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), believed that e-commerce provides an opportunity for developing countries to catch up with global trends, and the cooperation between Alibaba.com and ITC is promoting corporate social responsibility and the growth of more MSMEs.