• How do your AI sustainability tools align with Malaysian national priorities? Could you provide an example of how these tools have effectively contributed to decarbonisation efforts in other regions?

• Malaysia has put in place certain policies to address climate-induced disasters, the 12MP 2021-2025 which reflects the country’s commitment to becoming a carbon-neutral nation by 2050 by targeting to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 45 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2030.
• This has posed challenges for enterprises and SMEs in pursuing green product innovation and developing sustainability transformation roadmaps to meet the net zero targets set by the 12th Malaysia Plan and COP27. Alibaba Cloud’s AI-powered sustainability solution Energy Expert platform aligns closely with Malaysia's national priorities, providing our customers with actionable insights and informed sustainability practices to help them achieve their net zero goals. This is in line with our mission to empower businesses with tools that contribute to a greener future. in Malaysia, Alibaba Cloud has supported a number of businesses across various industries from Manufacture to Internet, Hond Tat Industries is another good example. Energy Expert provides user-friendly carbon footprint management tools to help Malaysia’s home-grown manufacturer Hond Tat Industries to complete product carbon footprint accounting which also improves the decision-making process when it comes to sustainability.
• So far, Energy Expert has helped more than 3,000 enterprises and organizations worldwide save energy or reduce carbon emissions since its launch. This platform has proven effective on a global stage, including its recent deployment at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 to enhance the sustainability, where it is being used to measure and analyse electricity consumption across all 35 competition venues. By migrating the intelligence related to the power consumption and demand of the competition venues to the cloud-based platform for the first time, the solution aims to enable more accurate analysis and better-informed power consumption planning for future Olympic Games.

• In what ways does Malaysia fit into your strategic goals, beyond data centres?

• With its favorable business environment, advanced digital infrastructure, and strategic location, Malaysia is well positioned to become a leading hub for the digital economy in the region. This creates an open market for businesses to embrace new technologies and products. As a result, we have chosen Malaysia as the first location to deploy some of our latest technologies and services, such as Energy Expert and the EMAS Superapp solution. By leveraging Malaysia's strengths, we are committed to providing cutting-edge cloud products and innovative solutions that drive sustainable growth for businesses across the country and the region while propelling the nation’s carbon neutrality goals by 2050.
• We have also shared our investment plan earlier this year to establish additional data centres in overseas markets and Malaysia has been one of the key markets for us to boost the investment to build up additional data centres locally within the next three years.
• With our mission, "In Malaysia, For Malaysia," we aim to create an inclusive and collaborative ecosystem for customers, partners, and public stakeholders. The new investment in cloud and AI infrastructure will enhance our product suite, strengthen international partnerships, and foster AI talent development.

• What further strategic collaborations or partnerships do you have planned as you commit to Malaysia?

We have supported numerous Malaysian organisations and institutions across a wide range of industries, including public agencies, logistics, automobiles, and financial services, in their digitalisation efforts.

As we deepen our commitment to Malaysia, one of our primary strategies is to further extend and strengthen local partnerships that support the growth and digital transformation of Malaysian businesses. We plan to collaborate with more industry leaders, public agencies, retail and logistics corporations, as well as SMEs across various sectors to provide them with our advanced digital solutions tailored to their specific needs. 

Recently in June 2024, we extended our existing partnership with Sarawak Information Systems Sdn. Bhd. (SAINS), a leading ICT Systems Integrator and Solutions Provider in Sarawak. This collaboration focuses on two key areas which are digital public services and green AI. By leveraging Alibaba's advanced cloud technology and innovative AI-powered solutions, this partnership is poised to further accelerate Sarawak’s digital transformation and sustainability journey. 

Last year, Alibaba Cloud worked closely with local logistics players, EasyParcel & GlobalTrack to deepen their digital transformation efforts. Using AI-driven smart logistics solutions through a comprehensive range of logistics services, including real time tracking, intelligent routing, and personalised recommendations based on data analysis to improve the supply chain management and reduce logistics costs. 

Alongside our efforts to support local businesses and public agencies, we recognise the critical importance of developing a skilled workforce that can drive Malaysia’s digital future, having trained over 20,000 people in cloud skills since 2017. 

We recently announced our Digital Accelerator Program in an effort to boost the local talent AI & Tech literacy by building an expanded, enhanced and inclusive ecosystem with funding, training, and technical support to fuel Malaysia’s digital transformation and innovation roadmap. The program is targeted at academic institutions and local start-ups.

• With this program, Alibaba Cloud aims to train and certify more than 500 startups in Malaysia by the end of 2025. Eligible startups will receive up to $120,000 in funding and resources to support their digitalisation growth and success.  
• Built upon the successful collaboration with Universiti Malaya, the initiative also plans to establish Alibaba Cloud Academy Skills Centers in at least five universities in Malaysia by 2025, offering free access to digital resources for students and educators, with a focus on fields such as Generative AI, Cybersecurity, Data Analytics, and more. This will help achieve Alibaba Cloud's goal of certifying 10,000 students by the end of 2025.
• Additionally, Alibaba Cloud is committed to providing expanded digital training for rural communities in Selangor, Johor, Penang, Sarawak, and Sabah, aiming to nurture 10,000 community students.
• The program will also focus on grooming 50 independent software vendors (ISVs) by equipping them with essential cloud knowledge, particularly in Generative AI. By building such an AI-driven ecosystem, Alibaba Cloud together with the ISVs aims to assist and onboard 1,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on their digitalisation journey this year. 

• How many employees do you currently have in Malaysia?

Since 2017, we have a dedicated team of professionals based in Kuala Lumpur, providing 24/7 services and support to our customers and partners. To meet the growing business demands locally, this year we continue to hire more talents in Malaysia to support our thriving business and ensure we can deliver the best-in-class services to our local customers. 

• How does Alibaba Cloud ensure the safeguarding of data? 

As a global leading cloud service provider, data privacy and protection is a top priority for Alibaba Cloud in the Asia, Europe, the US and everywhere it operates. Alibaba Cloud has more than 130 security and compliance accreditations worldwide. We deeply ingrain the concept of privacy protection and data security into our practices, making full use of privacy technology to achieve data sharing in a trusted environment. We launched our first cloud-based Anti-DDoS Scrubbing Center in Malaysia in 2018, which is designed to mitigate risks and provide customers in Malaysia with the protection against increasingly powerful DDoS attacks. 

• Microsoft has announced plans for AI training in Malaysia. Could you outline the AI training initiatives that your company provides in Malaysia?

We are not in a position to comment on other companies’ plans. But what I want to highlight is that as the first global cloud provider that entered the market back in 2017 with years of investment and experience serving the local market and two data centres locally, we will continue to invest in Malaysia and serve our local customers along their digital transformation journey with our advanced cloud technology and proven solutions. We have also announced to build the third data center in Malaysia within the next three years. 

We have several ongoing initiatives focused on student development, educator support, and startups. To date, we have trained over 20,000 Malaysians in cloud skills through programs like the Alibaba Cloud Academic Empowerment Program (AAEP) and Alibaba Cloud’s Digital Heroes Program. Separately, our Alibaba Cloud Certified Associate (ACA) Generative AI Engineer Course, available globally from May 2024, is also a part of our commitment to supporting digital talent development and making AI more accessible.

Additionally, as I have mentioned, Alibaba Cloud has recently announced our Digital Accelerator Program to boost AI adoption and advance Malaysia's digital transformation. This announcement has further demonstrated our ongoing commitment to deepening local initiatives. 

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