MoU with Alibaba.com

From left: Dr Liew, Prof Ewe, He Dongpei and Wang Hu with the signed documents  

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between UTAR and Alibaba.com, a leading B2B marketplace for global trade under the Alibaba Group, on 6 September 2016 at Kampar Campus. Both parties announced their joint initiative to better equip UTAR students and staff as well as Malaysian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with e-commerce knowledge.

Signing the MoU on behalf of the parties were He Dongpei, Deputy General Manager of Operations at Alibaba.com, and UTAR President Ir Prof Academician Dato’ Dr Chuah Hean Teik. The signing ceremony was witnessed by Wang Hu, Malaysia Country Manager of Alibaba.com, and UTAR Vice President for Internationalisation and Academic Development Prof Ir Dr Ewe Hong Tat. Also present at the ceremony were Business Development Manager of Alibaba.com Ben Sim, UTAR Vice President for Student Development and Alumni Relations Prof Dr Choong Chee Keong, Dean of UTAR Faculty of Information and Communication Technology Assoc Prof Dr Liew Soung Yue, Director of Division of Community and International Networking Prof Dr Cheng Ming Yu and Director of the Division of Corporate Communication and Public Relations Ong Soo Weon.

The UTAR-Alibaba.com collaboration, a part of Alibaba.com’s “Global E-commerce Talent (GET)” programme, represents the culmination of hard work between both institutions to enhance the understanding of e-commerce by UTAR students and staff, as well as Malaysian businesses. This collaboration will be implemented through the provisioning of third-party trainers by Alibaba.com to coach UTAR staff and students in e-commerce and related subjects in the core fields of e-commerce, finance and other related curriculum. Qualified trainees will receive certification from Alibaba.com. Alibaba.com will also provide students and staff with access to its online e-commerce learning platform.

Under the GET programme, 30 UTAR staff from Kampar Campus and Sungai Long Campus attended the 5-day training within the same week of the MoU signing. At the end of the training, the staff will be assessed and they will receive certification depending on the outcome of the assessment. Once certified, the trained staff can then teach students and other staff.

To roll out Alibaba.com’s GET programme to the wider community, UTAR will provide and use their online and offline platforms to facilitate the implementation and promotion of the programme in Malaysia. In addition to that, UTAR and Alibaba.com will engage other education centres, as well as academic and industry experts, for the development and improvement of GET’s course content, training of certified trainers, facilitation of trainee enrolment and certification, offline teaching, practical training, and the connection of certified trainees to potential employers at job fairs in Malaysia. UTAR will also join hands with Alibaba.com to provide training and certification programmes to SMEs in Malaysia, in a bid to grow more e-commerce talents in the local business community.

Representing UTAR President, Prof Ewe in his speech said, “UTAR is truly grateful for Alibaba.com’s initiative to establish a cooperative relationship in efforts to improve the current e-commerce business environment and to promote e-commerce in Malaysia. With this strong collaboration, we look forward to the numerous opportunities presented to us through the vigorous activities under this MoU. Therefore, with our collaboration, I believe the intellectual and personal development of staff and students will be improved and we will be able to nurture them in the right direction in response to professional and community needs.”

From left: Prof Ewe and He Dongpei addressing the audience

He Dongpei said, “We believe that the future of global e-commerce will be a driving force to promote global economic development. In fact, e-commerce in China has been growing rapidly and is almost the fastest in the world. Likewise we look to Malaysia as being home to a wealth of high-quality manufactured products that are sought after by global buyers. In spite of the growing popularity of online shopping, many Malaysian entrepreneurs and businessmen have yet to fully understand and embrace the potential opportunities that B2B e-commerce has to offer on a global scale.”

“By partnering with an influential local university like UTAR, we hope to broaden our reach to current and future business decision makers in Malaysia with the aim to cultivate e-commerce talent that will be the cornerstone of development for the industry and to build their capability and confidence in online trade,” she added.

With the mission “to make it easy to do business anywhere”, Alibaba.com has 17 years of experience connecting buyers and sellers from around the world for cross-border trade on its online wholesale marketplace. Recognising a shortage of e-commerce talent, Alibaba.com this year initiated the “Global E-Commerce Talent (GET)” programme, under which it collaborates with universities, colleges, business schools and training centres across the globe to empower cross-border trading communities through training, assessment and certification, as well as career development and guidance.

From left: Prof Choong, Dr Liew, Prof Ewe, He Dongpei, Wang Hu and Sim after the signing

GET training of UTAR staff in progress