Contxto – Tech giants everywhere want a larger stake in the e-commerce market of Latam. eBay launched a program in Mexico to guide small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and their products into the digital realm. Facebook released its “Shops” service and payment processor. Argentine Mercado Libre is increasing its ops and opening tech hubs.
And while the Big Kahuna in e-business is Amazon, there is another global player we’ve yet to address: Alibaba. And it’s making a quiet move into the region too.
Atomic88-Alibaba Business School recently announced a partnership with GINgroup—an enterprise conglomerate—to promote and develop e-commerce skills within Mexico.
As a result, GINgroup will train and certify 200 people in Alibaba’s Global eCommerce Talent (GET) program.
Why it’s a big deal: Alibaba also hopes to build on the entrepreneurial ecosystem by creating digital villages in all 32 Mexican states, train 1,000 university students, and launch 50 micro-businesses in each village.
An ambitious goal, but it’s definitely the most all-encompassing attempt at promoting e-commerce by a tech corporation in the country (thus far).
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Alibaba’s digital villages in Mexico
It’s worth noting that this isn’t Alibaba’s first attempt at launching digital villages. In its native China, this project has been running reportedly for 10 years already.
But don’t let the program’s sugar coating distract you. Beyond offering training, networking opportunities, and certifying entrepreneurs to run an online business, it’s a subtle way of bringing in Alibaba’s own platform and services into the picture.
But (for the moment) that’s fine by me.
In Mexico, there’s a stark difference in digitization when comparing its capital to other parts of the country. If Alibaba and friends want to bring that e-commerce enthusiasm to those parts, it should help the overall ecosystem.
Will it pressure other e-commerce platforms to follow suit? I hope so. A little competition never hurt anyone.
Related articles: Tech and startups from Mexico!
-ML
