A video released by the Indonesian government showed the Southeast Asian country is on the hunt for a new advisor for its eCommerce sector.
Fortune reported that the country would like Alibaba’s founder and executive chairman, Jack Ma, to provide guidance to its thriving eCommerce market.
“The thinking behind this is to make Indonesia’s positioning in the international marketplace more prominent,” Indonesian Communication and Information Minister Rudiantara said in the video.
The government confirmed plans to set up a steering committee to help lead eCommerce growth in the country, which Ma was asked to join. An Alibaba spokeswoman declined to provide an answer on whether Ma will accept the offer or not.
Ma recently said he wants Alibaba’s sales to become the equivalent of the world’s fifth-richest country in four years.
That means that, by 2020, Ma expects Alibaba to be generating income or “gross domestic product” only surpassed by the economies of the U.S., China, the European Union and Japan.
On Nov. 11, 2015, coming off the success of Alibaba’s latest Singles’ Day promotion — think of Singles’ Day as Alibaba’s equivalent to Amazon’s Prime Day, only centered around a “holiday” in China, where people celebrate being single by shopping online — Ma told Bloomberg TV that he hoped to transform Singles’ Day into a “global holiday” that would see more than 50 percent of its sales come from outside China.
When asked how Alibaba intended to achieve this feat, as the majority of the company’s sales currently are generated from within China, Ma responded that Alibaba has already begun planning for just such a scenario.
“Everything we do, we have a 10-year plan, since the first day,” Ma said.
We’re always on the lookout for opportunities to partner with innovators and disruptors.
Learn More