The Ministry of Commerce on June 5 issued a public invitation to the Alibaba Netpreneur Masterclass Global Edition 2023, a free online English-language e-commerce training course for entrepreneurs and business leaders.
The course promises to provide participants a greater grasp of the digital-economy phenomenon as well as practical strategies for building enduring enterprises in the digital age, the ministry said in a notice.
“The purpose of this training is to expose entrepreneurs and e-business owners to new experiences and skills in the application of digital technology to improve local business and economic development,” the notice said.
The training period will run from July 27 to August 24, and require a time commitment of six-to-eight hours per week, it said, adding that graduates will receive certificates and gain access to a worldwide alumni network, with top achievers given the chance to take in-person classes at Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s headquarters in China.
According to the notice, interested individuals can apply online through June 30 at agi.alibaba.com/alibabanetpreneurmasterclass2023
Speaking to The Post on June 5, Cambodia Digital Tech Association (CDTA) president Chhin Ken lauded the course as a “great opportunity” for entrepreneurs and e-business owners to learn how to buy and sell goods through electronic media.
He contended that the Alibaba Netpreneur Masterclass Global Edition 2023 will be able to provide Cambodian players with a much better understanding of the benefits and convenience of e-commerce because of the Chinese tech giant’s “successful experiences” in the field.
Ken also made a general appeal for more business-focused digital training programmes. “On behalf of the CDTA, I’d like to encourage initiatives that educate Cambodians about using online applications, especially for conducting business,” he said.
According to Reuters, Alibaba posted revenue of 208.20 billion yuan ($29 billion) in the January-March quarter, falling just shy of a Refinitiv consensus forecast of 210.3 billion yuan. Net income attributable to common shareholders was 23.52 billion yuan, turning around a 16.24 billion yuan loss from a year ago.
In the quarter ended March 31, Alibaba’s cloud segment – which is planned to be listed in the next year – generated 18.6 billion yuan in revenue, falling by two per cent year-on-year, but contributing nearly nine per cent of the group’s total revenue, the London-based news agency indicated.
Meanwhile, the General Department of Taxation (GDT) reported that it collected 84.67 billion riel, or $20.91 million, in value-added tax (VAT) from e-commerce in the first quarter of the year, ended March 31, which has been touted as evidence of the surge in online transactions that has occurred since the Covid-19 crisis began.
The e-commerce VAT, which has only been implemented for about a year, has been presented as a fresh source of state financing from the Kingdom’s burgeoning hi-tech business community.
Similarly, the GDT and General Department of Customs and Excise of Cambodia (GDCE) – both of which are under the Ministry of Economy and Finance – collectively netted $1.908 billion in revenues in the first quarter of 2023, reaching just over 30 per cent of the full-year target, official figures show.
Individually, the GDT reported that it collected $1.34390 billion in the January-March period, or 37.63 per cent of its $3.5717 billion full-year target. An earlier GDT notice put the first quarter 2022 figure at $1.26307 billion, which would suggest a 6.40 per cent increase on an annual basis, barring revisions of the 2022 numbers.
At the same time, the GDCE registered $564.1 million for the three-month period, representing just 20.5 per cent of its full-year target, albeit a 5.2 per cent year-on-year drop.
Accounting for rounding, this indicates that GDCE revenues during January-March 2022 fell in the range of $594.675-595.409 million, indicating a slight reduction from the $597.6 million earlier reported for that period.
The full-year targets are set in the 2023 Law on Financial Management.
