Small is beautiful for 21st century: Jack Ma

CHIEF executives of the world's biggest companies will meet Apec leaders at Suntec today to begin discussions on ways to rebuild the global economy.

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But yesterday, Chinese entrepreneur Jack Ma of alibaba had a different message for 700 bosses of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) attending the Apec SME Summit at nearby Raffles City: Small is beautiful.

'In the last century, big was better,' said the China-based e-commerce company's founder. 'But in the 21st century, I believe small is beautiful because it is not about how much equipment you have, it is about how quickly you can change yourself to meet the market.'

Giving a rousing keynote address at the event - regarded as a sideshow to today's Apec CEO Summit - Mr Ma took a poke at larger corporates that suffered beatings during the financial crisis.

Speaking to a packed ballroom, he said the crisis had been disastrous for many big names in the West. 'All the big companies which we all wanted to be like - today, they have all died. But we SMEs - yes we felt the pain - but we are happier now because we survived.'

Mr Ma, who trained as a high school teacher in Hangzhou, founded the Alibaba Group in 1999 after successfully starting China Pages, widely believed to be the mainland's first dot, in 1995.

A popular speaker at global business conferences, he also gave his take on government bailouts offered to larger companies and financial institutions.

'We have heard so many stories about big companies in trouble... They are the troublemakers, we should not give them so much support, let them die, it is time for them to die,' he said, to loud applause.

Mr Ma added that if governments want strong economies, they should turn their attention to SMEs and give incentives to individuals starting their own businesses.His reason: SME owners may start small, but they dream big: 'We believe we are tomorrow's Google, we believe we are tomorrow's eBay, we believe we are tomorrow's UPS.'

Singapore's Minister of State for Trade and Industry Lee Yi Shyan also called for Apec economies to focus their efforts on helping smaller companies.

'While we might have moved out of the worst of the financial crisis, the foundation of recovery is still fragile and can be weakened if we allow protectionism to creep in,' said Mr Lee.

At a separate event yesterday, Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang noted that the Apec CEO Summit's theme of Rebuilding the Global Economy: Crisis and Opportunity was a timely one.

Speaking at the welcome reception for delegates, he said: 'It is also apt that at this critical juncture of the world economy, this year's CEO Summit has a record turnout of Apec leaders since the inception of the CEO Summit in 1996.'

The minister said that as Apec celebrates its 20th birthdaythis year, it is a good opportunity for Apec and the private sector to consider how it can develop and implement initiatives to meet future needs.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Chinese President Hu Jintao will be among the speakers at the Apec CEO Summit today.

　　翻译

小是美丽的第二十一世纪：Jack Ma

世界最大的公司的首席执行官们将APEC领导人在新达城今天遇见开始重建全球经济方式的讨论。

但昨天，阿里巴巴的中国企业家Jack Ma 700老板中小企业有一个不同的消息(中小企业)参加在来福士广场附近的APEC中小企业峰会：小的是美好的。

“在上个世纪，大的更好，”中国电子商务公司的创始人说。”但在第二十一世纪，我相信小的是美丽的，因为它不是关于你有多少设备，它是关于如何迅速改变自己，以满足市场。

给一个鼓舞人心的主题演讲在事件视为一个插曲今天的APEC CEO峰会-马开始嘲笑大企业在金融危机中遭受的殴打。

他说，对于一个拥挤的舞厅来说，这场危机对西方许多名人来说都是灾难性的。所有的大公司，我们都想成为-今天，他们都死了。但我们中小企业-是的，我们感到痛苦-但我们现在更快乐，因为我们幸存了下来。

马先生，谁曾在杭州的中学教师，成立了阿里巴巴集团在中国成功地从1999页后，被广泛认为是大陆第一个网络，1995。

在全球商务会议上，他还发表了他对大公司和金融机构提供的政府救助的言论。

我们听到了很多关于大公司陷入困境的故事…他们是麻烦制造者，我们不应该给他们这么多的支持，让他们死，他们死的时候，”他说，大声叫好。

马先生补充说，如果政府需要强大的经济体，他们应该把注意力转向中小企业，鼓励个人创业，他的理由是：中小企业主可能会小，但是他们的梦想：“我们相信我们是明天的谷歌，我们相信我们是明天的易趣网，我们相信我们的明天UPS。”

贸易和工业部长Lee Yi Shyan国家新加坡也呼吁亚太经合组织经济体集中精力帮助小公司。

李说，尽管我们可能已经走出了金融危机最严重的阶段，但复苏的基础仍然脆弱，如果我们允许保护主义继续蔓延下去，经济复苏的势头可能会减弱。

在一个单独的事件昨天，贸易和工业部长林勋强指出，APEC CEO峰会的主题是重建全球经济：危机与机遇是一个及时的。

在代表们的欢迎会上，他说：“这也是很容易的，在这个世界经济的关键时刻，今年的首席执行官峰会创纪录的亚太经合组织领导人自1996的CEO峰会开始以来的投票率。”

这位部长说，作为亚太经合组织birthdaythis庆祝它的第二十年，这是一个很好的机会，为亚太经合组织和私营部门应考虑如何制定和实施措施，以满足未来的需求。

Lee Hsien Loong总理和中国国家主席胡锦涛将在今天的亚太经合组织领导人峰会上发言。