Jack Ma plans to open institute for tech entrepreneurs in Indonesia

 

Ma, who advises the Indonesian government on ecommerce, has not yet agreed any details for the institute, but Reuters said that his plans would be beneficial to the country as it currently “has a shortage of trained engineers in technology”.

 

“We’re giving a lot of opportunities for young Indonesian people to learn,” Reuters reported Ma as saying following a meeting with Indonesian ministers.

 

 

 

He added that Indonesia’s investment in the development of tech-savvy professionals would be vital to ensuring the country does not get left behind in the digital age.

 

Tech in Asia noted that Alibaba is “increasingly focused on Indonesia”, and that its cloud computing subsidiary, Alibaba Cloud, opened a data center there last year.

 

The country’s ecommerce industry is set to boom, with McKinsey estimating in a recent report that its value will jump from US$8bn in 2017 to around $55bn by 2022, Reuters said.

 

In August 2017, Tech in Asia reported that Alibaba led a $1.1bn investment in Tokopedia, an Indonesian ecommerce platform, securing a minor stake in the company.