The shipment of face masks, test kits, protective suits and face shields donated by the Jack Ma Foundation and the Alibaba Foundation arrive at the KL International Airport (KLIA).
This donation is among a number of aid initiatives to four Southeast Asian countries including Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines from the Alibaba Foundation and Jack Ma Foundation to support the areas of the world most affected by the Covid-19 crisis.
YBhg. Datuk Khairul Shahril Bin Idrus, Deputy Director General of National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA) who took receipt of the donation from Leo Chow, CEO of Lazada Malaysia representing the Jack Ma Foundation and the Alibaba Foundation said NADMA is entrusted to distribute the supplies throughout the country.
“We hope our donation will help the ongoing national effort in Malaysia to curtail spread of Covid-19,” said James Song, Secretary General of the eWTP office (Electronic World Trade Platform).
“The transportation of the medical supplies is becoming ever more challenging by day, but we leveraged the strength of the Malaysia electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP) – the first overseas eWTP hub in the world – to get it done as fast as we could.”
The eWTP initiative is a not-for-profit initiative first proposed by Jack Ma in 2016 to help foster a more integrated and inclusive environment for cross-border electronic trade.
Launched in 2017, the efulfilment hub based at the KL International Airport (KLIA) is a key component of the Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ), a strategic cross-border eCommerce initiative driven by the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) together with various ministries and agencies in Malaysia.
The e-fulfilment hub at KLIA functions as customs clearance, warehousing and fulfilment centre for the region.
At this critical point, MDEC CEO, Surina Shukri said that the eWTP hub in Malaysia is playing a pivotal role in the distribution of supplies for Covid-19 relief donated by the Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation.
Delivery of the donations is being routed through the regional e-fulfilment hub in KLIA, which is Alibaba’s first eWTP hub outside of China established under the Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ) initiative.
Leveraging on the collaboration between Alibaba and logistics players in Malaysia, the hub will be able to facilitate cross-border logistics to ensure delivery of medical supplies to countries in need to fight Covid-19.
The Foundations are also funding research and development of Covid-19 virus treatment options in China and at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity (Australia) and Columbia University (USA).
Further donations are expected to be announced over the coming days and weeks.
