Alibaba's Ma Wants To Create An Electronic World Trade Platform For Small Businesses & Farmers

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA founder and Chairman Jack Ma wants to create an online platform that links smaller businesses, farmers and individuals with clients across the world.

According to Asia Nikkei Review, Ma is pushing for the creation of an Electronic World Trade Platform. He told young entrepreneurs at the Asia Cooperation Dialogue summit in Bangkok that his vision could connect farmers in Thailand directly with end consumers in China.

He argued that "society changes" if farmers can use their mobile phones to sell their products online. In addition to farmers, small businesses can achieve similar "success in the world" by embracing technology.

Ma said he is discussing with Thailand's government the possibility of implementing a tariff-free agricultural trade deal between smaller Thai businesses and China.

Ma also stated that Alibaba's long-term e-commerce goal is to create 100 million jobs across the world by 2036. Over the same time period, he expects Alibaba to be a true global brand and expects its user base to quintuple to a staggering two billion users.

Despite a rough start to Alibaba's stock in early 2016, shares are still higher by around 30 percent since January 1 and have gained more than 50 percent over the past year.p