Future will be about 'made on the Internet': Jack Ma

Speaking at a session here at the World Economic Forum (WEF) on 'Enabling e-commerce: Small enterprises, global players', Ma said in the future, every young person and small business will be able to buy, sell, pay and travel globally.

"This is the trend - no one can stop it," he said.

The session discussed how e-commerce could give small businesses access to global markets that were once reserved for multinationals, yet just 7 per cent of global e-commerce trade takes place across borders.

It explored how new digital policies could break down barriers to international e-commerce and support the next generation of entrepreneurs to rise.

Jack Ma said that even without a perfect logistics system, payments system or blockchain, e-commerce has grown remarkably.

Alibaba would be the 21st largest economy in the world if it were a country, he said. Imagine what will happen when those challenges are solved, he added.

In the same session, WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo said governments still have rules and regulations that apply to 20th century trade.

"That s going to disappear," he averred.

Jack Ma predicted that in the future there will be no 'made in China', 'made in America', or 'made in Peru'.

"It's going to be 'made on the internet'," he said.

Jack Ma on Wednesday also said that globalisation cannot be stopped and if trade stops then war will follow.

"To dissolve problems we need to embrace globalisation and it is our responsibility and opportunity to improve it," Jack Ma said at a special session here during the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting.

"Whether you worry about it the world will be hugely changed in the next 30 years. If there will be a war then it should be a war against disease, environmental pollution and poverty, rather than against ourselves," he said.

He also said that to gain success a person will need high EQ and "if you don't want to lose quickly you will need a high IQ, and if you want to be respected you need high LQ - the IQ of love".

The business leader said we are in a transformative phase of the world due to technology, which will help create interesting careers for people -- but may also cause significant social problems. He said global trade should be simple, inclusive and modernised. The next generation of globalisation should be inclusive for young people as the first wave was controlled by kings and emperors. In the last 30 years, it has been controlled by 60,000 big companies, he noted.

Speaking on a range of issues, he said artificial intelligence (AI) robots may indeed kill jobs but it will mean that we need to create more jobs within the service industry.

Consumption and the service industry has hope and we must do it uniquely, he added.

He further said philanthropy is about action and involvement. It is not about money but about waking up people's conscience, he said.

"If you want to be successful then you should learn from other's mistakes rather than their successes," the Alibaba group founder and chairman said.