“Many asked me why I chose Malaysia to work together on the digital free trade zone (DFTZ).

“I told them that Malaysia is very business-friendly and much more efficient than I thought,” he said in his opening speech before jointly launching the DFTZ with Prime Minister Najib Razak here today.

Ma said the Multimedia Super Corridor project inspired him to pursue the digital world idea and made Alibaba and Malaysia establish the e-hub near Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

“The DFTZ is the first digital free trade zone outside China, which will be utilising new technology to empower small businesses and young entrepreneurs.

“There will be a logistic hub to cater for the e-commerce business with a one stop service centre.

“It can grow to become a regional logistic hub that could deliver packages within 72 hours in the next 20 years.”

He was optimistic that a digital economy would help increase gross domestic product (GDP) contribution from small businesses in Malaysia to at least 80%.

Currently, small businesses in Malaysia contributed less than 40% of the nation’s GDP with small and medium-sized enterprises accounting for about 97% of total businesses.