MANILA – Alibaba Business School, a unit of technology firm Alibaba Group, has partnered with Makati-based school iAcademy to offer digital and e-commerce in the country.
Alibaba Business School and iAcademy inked their partnership Tuesday to launch the Alibaba Global Digital Talent, named as GET program, which will be offered in iAcademy in the next academic year.
“We are honored to be the first school in the Philippines to implement this program with the Alibaba business school. This is just one of the many initiatives that iAcademy will be pushing as we strengthen our international presence and linkages,” iAcademy president and chief executive officer Vanessa Tanco said in a virtual media briefing.
Tanco added e-commerce and digital transformation play a vital role during this time of pandemic wherein brick-and-mortar stores have many challenges in operating their businesses, and offering GET programs will help Filipino businesses to innovate and survive amid the pandemic.
Cecilia Sy, iAcademy vice president for academic affairs, said the GET program will be offered in two ways –integrating the Alibaba business program into iAcademy’s existing businesses course and offering it as short courses to professionals.
“iAcademy is one of the most famous private educational institutions in the Philippines and we also learned that they have shared with us the same mission which is to contribute to digital transformation of the Philippines,” Global Digital Talent Group program director Matthew Gong said.
Gong added the Alibaba Group aims to produce one million talents under the GET program worldwide.
Aside from the Philippines, Alibaba Group has rolled out the GET program in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Mexico.
“Definitely, the Philippines is very important for us to achieve our mission and vision. And hopefully the students participating in our program will be equipped with the proper skill sets to contribute to the Philippines’ digital transformation,” he said.
Gong said the Alibaba Group has launched e-commerce villages in China and Malaysia that helped rural farmers and villagers tap the potentials of going digital to boost their businesses.
The e-commerce village model in Malaysia has helped local farmers to sell their organic rice through the use of digital platforms, and in several years, these Malaysian farmers were able to triple their revenues. (PNA)
