The areas of cooperation covered by the agreement include the establishment of a Smart Digital Hub in the EEC to support cross-border trade with China and other markets; equipping SMEs with e-commerce skills; training of Thai digital talent; establishment of an Official Thai Rice Flagship Store on Tmall; as well as cooperation in smart and digital tourism.
As part of Thailand's Eastern Economic Corridor ("EEC") initiative covering the three eastern provinces of Chachoengsao, Chonburi, and Rayong, Alibaba's smart digital logistics business, Cainiao Network, will establish a Smart Digital Hub in the EEC. The Smart Digital Hub will utilize Alibaba and Cainiao's data and logistics capabilities and processes to optimize the cross-border flow of goods not only between Thailand and China but also with other markets.
Cainiao will also work closely with the EEC Office and Thai Customs to promote the digitization of customs processes through technology such as big data and artificial intelligence and sharing of global best practices. The Smart Digital Hub will be an open platform enabled to provide services to all players in Thailand's digital economy.
Groundbreaking for the Smart Digital Hub is expected in 2018, and operations are expected to commence in 2019.
Alibaba Group also plans to continue its efforts to connect Thai SMEs to Alibaba's 500 million active users in the Chinese e-commerce market as well as other global e-commerce opportunities through a partnership between the Thai Ministry of Industry's Department of Industrial Promotion ("DIP"), the Thai Ministry of Commerce's Department of International Trade Promotion ("DITP") and Alibaba Business School - an accredited university founded by Alibaba Group and Hangzhou Normal University. Under this training collaboration, SMEs all across Thailand including SMEs in rural areas and individual entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to gain e-commerce knowledge and skills to start e-business and leverage the internet to develop their business online.
Under the collaboration with DIP and DITP, Alibaba Group also plans to develop Thai talent for the digital economy era. Alibaba Business School will work together with both departments to develop and update effective strategies for talent development in Thailand, while also providing students and academics from Thailand with opportunities to take part in various academic exchanges and courses offered by Alibaba Business School in Hangzhou, China. Alibaba Business School resources and expertise will also be made available to the DIP and DITP for localization and further use in Thailand. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and Alibaba's online travel business and one of China's online travel service providers, Fliggy, will also expand their cooperation to support smart and digital tourism in Thailand.
As an Official Strategic Partner of TAT, Fliggy will work with TAT to offer smart technological experiences at many facilities and tourist attractions across Thailand for the convenience of visitors - ranging from online tour guides to electronic ticketing systems. In addition, both Fliggy and Ant Financial, Alibaba Group's affiliate and operator of Alipay, are in active discussions with various related government agencies to drive a holistic digital transformation to Thai tourism starting from pre-departure visa and visa-on-arrival application and payment to post-travel digital service with tourist tax refund via Alipay system.
