Alibaba.com Opens Taiwan Office

TAIPEI, Taiwan, July 24, 2008 /Xinhua-PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Alibaba.com today opened its fourth functional office outside mainland China. The new Taipei office will be able to better serve its 40,000 local members and enable more small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) in Taiwan to grow their business through e-commerce. Alibaba.com's three websites -- for global trade, domestic trade in mainland China and trade with Japan -- collectively form a business community of close to 30 million registered users from over 240 countries and regions.

Taiwan is a priority market for Alibaba.com and the company is committed to bringing global trade opportunities to Taiwan SMEs by helping them reach millions of buyers and sellers around the world. Alibaba.com is the only business-to-business e-commerce company that connects its Taiwan members with potential trading partners in mainland China, emerging markets like India and developed markets like Japan, Europe and the US on one single platform.

In 2007, there were over 1.2 million SMEs in Taiwan, accounting for around 98% of all enterprises(1) and more than 220,000 of them are engaged in export related businesses(2). With the saturation and slowing of Taiwan's domestic market, it has become more crucial for local SMEs to engage in international trade to stay competitive. However, official statistics estimate that SMEs contribute only around 18% of Taiwan's total export sales. This compares to around 40% of exports contributed by SMEs in South Korea and India, and over 60% by SMEs in mainland China.

"The launch of our Taipei office signifies our strong commitment to invest more resources to develop the Taiwan market and help local SMEs with global trade," said David Wei, Chief Executive Officer, Alibaba.com. "Alibaba.com can provide Taiwan's 220,000 export orientated SMEs with the right tools to connect with a huge pool of active international buyers and increase their competitiveness. In order to enhance our reach in Taiwan, we are also open to local partnerships in Taiwan in the future."

Steve Kang, Senior Business Manager, Alibaba.com Taiwan, commented, "In recent years, fierce competition and a flat domestic economy have cut into the profits of Taiwan businesses and traditional cost saving measures are no longer enough. SMEs in Taiwan need to increase their margins by finding new customers overseas and Alibaba.com can help them tap into the global marketplace."

Alibaba.com recently launched its Gold Supplier membership package in Taiwan. This paid service enables suppliers to gain more exposure to buyers on Alibaba.com's international marketplace by providing them with a premium storefront, priority placement in search results and high quality customer service. The Taipei office will provide local customer service, marketing and sales support, as well as conducting offline education and training for its Taiwan customers. Currently, Alibaba.com has about 2,000 paying members in Taiwan.

(1) According to the 2007 White Paper on SMEs published by the Ministry

of Economic Affairs of Taiwan

(2) According to the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA)