Jack Ma's call for inclusive trade gets WTO endorsement

Jack Ma (L), executive chairman of Alibaba Group and Roberto Azevedo, director-general of the WTO. [Photo/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The World Trade Organization is considering leveraging the power of e-commerce to help small and medium-sized enterprises to trade as its director-general applauded an initiative raised today by Alibaba Group's Jack Ma.

Roberto Azevedo, director-general of the WTO, said he is looking forward to teaming up with Ma, the executive chairman of Alibaba, to use e-commerce to help more SMEs benefit from trading across the world.

The idea of using a digital platform to do facility trading for SMEs is envisioned by Ma in a proposed international organization called Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP), which is included in the official communiqué of the G20 summit held Sept 4 and 5 in Hangzhou, home of Alibaba's headquarters.

Azevedo said leaders around the world are calling for action to make trade the core engine driving the global economy. He said that trade must be more inclusive, involving more people doing trade and allowing more people to benefit from trade - which means that trade must serve the needs of SMEs.

"The G20 leaders have acknowledged the importance of freer, more inclusive and innovation-driven trade to extend the benefits of globalization to those that have been left behind in the current model," Ma said in a statement. "The eWTP will benefit small and medium-sized businesses and consumers. It is about the people, not big business."

Conceived as complementary to the WTO, the eWTP would be set up as an international organization. Its overall goal would be to make it easier for SMEs to take part in global trade via e-commerce by simplifying regulations, lowering barriers to entry to new markets and providing small businesses with easier access to financing.