LAHORE – After completing a Nepal visit, co-founder of Alibaba Jack Ma arrived in Pakistan reportedly on a brief private visit.
Chinese business magnate arrived in Islamabad on June 29, visited Lahore, and departed to Uzbekistan on a private jet on the following day.
During their brief stay, the 58-year-old avoided interaction with government officials and media as his visit was purely private. The business tycoon was accompanied by five persons from his country of origin, one American and one Denmark citizen.
In Nepal, he stayed at Kathmandu’s Dwarika Hotel, roamed around the capital, and visited places like Bhaktapur Durbar Square, Kalimati market and famous Thamel.
Muhammad Azfar Ahsan, former minister of state and chairman of the Board of Investment (BOI), revealed a couple of days back that Jack Ma was in Lahore and even the Chinese Embassy was not aware of his engagement in Pakistan.
2/1) He avoided interacting with Government officials or the media. He came here on June 29th at 1215 hours and departed on June 30th at 1115 hours through a private jet (aircraft reg: VP-CMA owned by Jet Aviation. @AlibabaGroup @NutshellGroup pic.twitter.com/J6ZnnUSR5P
— Muhammad Azfar Ahsan (@MAzfarAhsan) July 1, 2023
He tweeted: the notable Chinese businessman and philanthropist “is actually in Lahore on purely a private visit”.
Chinese billionaire disappeared during a crackdown on tech entrepreneurs in China. However, he returned to his country after about one-year disappearance abroad.
Pakistan can learn from Chinese experience to develop e-commerce
