Focusing On Overseas Markets, Alibaba Targets 100 Billion US Dollars From Southeast Asia

Alibaba Group headquarters in Hangzhou, China. (Wikimedia Commons/Thomas LOMBARD)

JAKARTA - Chinese business giant Alibaba China told investors on Friday that overseas e-commerce will be the main focus as it seeks new sources of growth after a difficult year at home.

Earlier this month, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., restructured its e-commerce business into separate China and international divisions, with the latter led by Jiang Fan, head of key markets Alibaba Taobao and Tmall.

Alibaba Deputy CFO Toby Xu, in his first major public statement since being appointed this month as CFO said international e-commerce "will be one of the main growth drivers", adding that 57 percent of revenue for Cainiao, Alibaba's logistics unit, comes from overseas. , citing Reuters December 18.

Earlier in a two-day investor event, Alibaba said it had set a target of 100 billion United States (US) or around Rp. 1,438,575,000,000,000 gross merchandise value (GMV) for Lazada, an e-commerce service from Southeast Asia.

To note, Lazada generated 21 billion US dollars or approximately IDR 302,100,750,000,000 in GMV from September 2020 to the same month in 2021, the presentation showed.

Meanwhile, outgoing CFO Maggie Wu said Alibaba will include international trade under Alibaba's larger "Core Trading" financial segment in revenue, in addition to trade from its domestic market.

Local consumer services, which include shipping and mapping services, and Cainiao also fall into this category.

There is also a nod to social welfare, with four of the seven investment categories outlined by Xu linked to initiatives such as rural revitalization and China's aging population.

CEO Daniel Zhang, meanwhile, pledged to cut emissions from Alibaba's supply chain and transportation network by 50 percent by the end of the decade.

Missing from the presentation was the mention of Ant Group, a financial services company 33 percent owned by Alibaba.

Last year, Beijing intervened at the last minute to cancel Ant's planned $37 billion IPO (Initial Public Offering). Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma later slipped from the public spotlight and Chinese authorities began a year-long regulatory crackdown.

In November, Alibaba cut its annual revenue forecast for the current fiscal year, from an initial growth target of 29.5 percent to between 20 percent and 23 percent.

The company has faced stiff competition from rivals including Pinduoduo Inc, which has won over consumers in rural China, and ByteDance's Douyin, which has grown in China's booming live-streaming e-commerce sector.