TAIPEI: The founder of Zhejiang-based Internet commerce giant Alibaba urged Taiwanese businesses yesterday to explore the mainland market via the Internet.

"Taiwan's small companies should be able to sell their products to the mainland through the Internet," said Jack Ma, chairman and chief executive officer of Alibaba Group, at an economic forum in Taipei.

He said the Internet is the best means of allowing Taiwanese companies to enter the mainland market "at the lowest possible cost."

"It also helps you communicate with the young generation," he said, stressing that many young people on the mainland shop online.

Ma, 46, also urged business executives to understand that young people today care about issues of environmental protection and carbon emission reduction.

He said he has visited Taiwan four times and sees Taiwan as being full of opportunities.

"The Taiwan market has not been fully tapped by any means," he said at the forum that was organized by Taiwan's Chinese-language CommonWealth Magazine Group to discuss Asia's economic growth.

Alibaba, the largest online trading platform for enterprises (B2B) in the world, set up its Taiwan branch in 2008.

Ma said that a company's business operation model should be one that cannot be copied. "Because those that can be copied are of little value," he claimed.

He said that there are many books on the market that analyze his operation model, but none of the writers has actually interviewed him.

"I hope someday there will be a book on the 1,001 mistakes made by Alibaba, which will greatly inspire people," he remarked.

"Some people put forward what seem to be good analyses (of my company), but they are not accurate about what happened back then," he said.

Ma said he believes that the 21st century will belong to those "small companies that have big dreams."

He urged them to be courageous and embrace competition, so that "when you are 90-years-old, you will be telling (success) stories, not talking about your dreams."

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 01/20/2010 page2)