Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed visited the headquarters of e-commerce giant Alibaba in Hangzhou on Thursday, and discussed with Jack Ma issues of small and medium sized enterprises and globalization, huanqiu.com reports on Friday.

Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed visits the headquarters of e-commerce giant Alibaba in Hangzhou on Thursday, April 25, 2019. [Photo: tweet of Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed]

Jack Ma, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Alibaba Group, and Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed all thought highly of the meeting, which is believed to be an embodiment of the group's support for Ethiopia.

The tweet of Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed [Screenshot: China Plus]

When talking about helping farmers with technology, Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed said that Africa is a young land with young people, and it's also at the development stage of the popularity of mobile phones. He hoped that Alibaba could help Ethiopia move into the era of e-commerce.

Austrian PM Sebastian Kurz visits the headquarters of e-commerce giant Alibaba in Hangzhou on Thursday, April 25, 2019. [Photo: tweet of Austrian PM Sebastian Kurz]

On Thursday, Sebastian Kurz, the Prime Minister of Austria, also visited Alibaba in Hangzhou. He expressed his appreciation for the tour and conversation with Jack Ma. He mentioned that the tour gave him an impressive insight into how Alibaba sees the future of retail.

The tweet of Austrian PM Sebastian Kurz [Screenshot: China Plus]