BREXIT WILL NOT AFFECT UK-BOUND MALAYSIAN TOURISTS - MATTA

Britain's exit from the European Union (EU) will not affect Malaysian tourist
arrivals to the country as it is an established tourism destination preferred
by many.
Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) president Datuk
Hamzah Rahmat said the tourism industry was a very resilient industry and not
easily be affected by external factors like Brexit.
He pointed out that the current low value of the pound would not only
benefit Malaysian tourists and students in the United Kingdom (UK) but also
attract an influx of international visitors to the country.
"London is a top preferred destination for Malaysian tourists. Even in terms
of visa, we will not be affected as Malaysia is part of the Commonwealth country
and no visa is required to the EU countries, too," he told reporters at a press
conference on the National MATTA fair here today.
The UK is expected to leave the EU after a referendum showed 51.7 per cent
of its people voted for the country to exit the bloc.
The national Matta Fair, from Sept 2 to 4, is a premier travel fair
providing global exposure and business opportunities for travel agencies.
There will be 1,246 booths available, with an expected turnout of more than
113,000 visitors.
-- BERNAMA

This article was published by Bernama on Wednesday, June 29 2016

Alibaba likely to surpass Walmart as world’s top retailer

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is expected to surpass US multinational firm, WalMart soon as the world’s largest retail platform with its total trading volume this fiscal year set to exceed US$463.3 billion, Press Trust of India ( PTI ) reported, citing an official media.

An official announcement by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is expected to be made at the end of this fiscal year on March 31.

WalMart Stores Inc posted net sales of US$478.6 billion for its fiscal year ending Jan 31, while the latest trading volume figure for Alibaba amounted to three trillion yuan (US$463.3 billion), the company said yesterday.

It is equivalent to China’s Sichuan province's gross domestic product (GDP) last year, when the province’s GDP ranked sixth on the Chinese mainland, state-run China Daily reported today.

Zhang Yong, the company’s chief executive officer, said in Hangzhou that the figure was recorded on the company's business-to-customer platform Tmall, consumer-to-consumer platforms Taobao and Rural Taobao, and group-buying site Juhuasuan.

Zhang said he expected the company to achieve an annual trading volume of six trillion yuan by 2020 (about US$980 billion) and that “in 2024, we wanted to be a business platform serving two billion consumers and tens of millions of enterprises at home and abroad”.

According to Zhang, the company will strive to combine cloud computing and big data technologies with the internet and the Internet of Things, as well as consumer terminal equipment, to spur its development.

The Internet of Things is the network of physical objects - devices, vehicles, buildings and other items - embedded with electronics, software, sensors and network connectivity that enables these objects to collect and exchange data.

Citing the National Bureau of Statistics and McKinsey & Co figures, Gao Hongbing, director of AliResearch, said that of Alibaba's 3 trillion yuan in total trading volume, about 660 billion to 1.17 trillion yuan is newly increased consumption.

“Online shopping has been an important engine to promote consumption, which meets the nation's strategy of promoting domestic demand,” Gao said.

Last year, Chinese consumers’ willingness to spend reached the highest level since 2012, despite the economic slowdown, according to a study published in February by The Nielsen Company.

“This is a result of China’s commitment to shifting from an investment-driven to a consumption-driven economy,” said Kiki Fan, managing director of Nielsen China,China Daily reported.

“Booming online shopping provides more variety and convenience to customers, thus fuelling their spending desire,” the daily quoted Fan as saying.

Despite its economic growth falling below 7 percent for the first time since 2009, China surpassed the US last year to become the largest e-commerce market in the world, according to statistics from multinational consultancy Forrester Research Inc.

The Chinese government has fixed 6.5 percent to seven percent GDP target for this year.

- Bernama