China's Alibaba looking to forge alliances in Taiwan

Alibaba.com Ltd (阿里巴巴), the largest e-commerce site in China, plans to enter the local market by forging strategic alliances with local companies, founder and chairman Jack Ma (馬雲) said in Taipei yesterday.

"We deem Taiwan an important market and are looking for strategic partners," Ma said during a speech at a "Global Leadership Forum" held by Chinatrust Commercial Bank (中信銀).

Ma, 42, a former English teacher, set up the Internet search portal in 1999 and went on to develop it into the world's largest e-commerce operator.

The e-commerce giant is in talks with Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and Chinatrust Financial Holding Co (中信金控) regarding potential partnerships, Ma said, adding that he envisions Alibaba would provide localized services in the Taiwanese market.

Hon Hai, the nation's largest company by sales, announced last week that its subsidiary Foxconn (Far East) Ltd had acquired almost 17.55 million common shares, or a 0.347 percent stake, of Alibaba.com at HK$13.50 (US$1.74) per share, a total of HK$239.3 million.

Chinatrust Financial is a partner of Yahoo-Kimo Inc (雅虎奇摩) -- the local arm of Internet search giant Yahoo Inc. The firm handles online transactions on Yahoo-Kimo's auction site.

Compared to China, Taiwan has a better environment and better infrastructure for developing e-commerce, and therefore has a higher chance to succeed, Ma said.

Alibaba Group will make its debut on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange today, after raising approximately US$1.5 billion from its initial public offer -- the largest Internet offer in China.

"I want to turn the company into a leading e-commerce platform for China, Asia and even the [rest of the] world in the next three years," Ma said.

The small venture that Ma launched out of his Hangzhou apartment in 1999 has expanded into five companies and employees about 5,000 people.

Forty percent of Alibaba.com's shares were purchased by US Internet giant Yahoo for US$1 billion in 2005. As part of that deal, Alibaba.com now owns Yahoo China.

Last year, Alibaba.com posted an after-tax net profit of 220 million yuan (US$29.52 million). Its net profit was 290 million yuan in the first half of this year.