The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
SYDNEY, Australia — Chinese online retailer Alibaba Group opened its Australian and New Zealand headquarters in Melbourne on Saturday, its first expansion in the region as it seeks to tap growing global demand for products from the two countries.
The group's billionaire founder Jack Ma, who spent time in Australia as a young man, said he hoped the e-commerce giant would help Australian and New Zealand businesses "share their world-famous products with billions of customers around the world".
There are more than 1,300 Australian and 400 New Zealand brands on Alibaba's Tmall and Tmall Global, the company said in a statement.
"Alibaba Group's vision for the ANZ region is to build the entire operating infrastructure needed to enable local businesses to expand globally," Maggie Zhou, the group's Australian and New Zealand managing director, said.
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Further growth is planned in the areas of cloud computing, payments, digital entertainment and logistics, she said.
Alibaba also signed a memorandum of understanding with Australia Post aimed at streamlining logistics between Australia and China and developing the first Australian marketplace within Alibaba's Lazada eCommerce Network in Southeast Asia.
Ma met with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in Sydney on Friday where the pair discussed trade, small-and-medium businesses and young business people.
By Harry Pearl; editor: Sam Holmes.
From analysis of the global fashion and beauty industries to career and personal advice, BoF’s founder and CEO, Imran Amed, will be answering your questions on Sunday, February 18, 2024 during London Fashion Week.
The State of Fashion 2024 breaks down the 10 themes that will define the industry in the year ahead.
Imran Amed reviews the most important fashion stories of the year and shares his predictions on what this means for the industry in 2024.
After three days of inspiring talks, guests closed out BoF’s gathering for big thinkers with a black tie gala followed by an intimate performance from Rita Ora — guest starring Billy Porter.