And now…A new job for Alibaba’s Jack Ma

              by David Parmer/Tokyo

Jack Ma, the second richest man in China, Tai Chi player, fan of Wuxia novels and founder and executive chairman of Alibaba, just got a job offer. And Mr. Ma accepted. President Widodo of Indonesia himself (in a move that harks back to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms where Liu Bei went to recruit Zhuge Liang) went to Hangzhou and asked Mr. Ma to be an advisor to Indonesia’s committee of 10 ministers on e-commerce. And if there is anything that Mr. Ma can claim expertise in, it is e-commerce. Indonesia’s e-commerce sector has made remarkable progress since 2013, and the future only looks still brighter. Indonesia’s enormous population and vast size make it both promising and challenging for e-commerce.

What will Mr. Ma bring to the table? Experience, for sure, but probably more importantly–vision. If you are going to think big and act boldly, then it will surely be of great comfort to have smiling Jack Ma from Hangzhou, China sitting next to you.

Photo: WEF, Davos 2015 via flickr