// Alibaba founder tells World Economic Forum the current industrial revolution could lead to another world war
// He added that technology also had the power to do immense good
// The Electronic World Trading Platform developed by Alibaba aims to allow for tariff-free trade between countries on transactions below $1 million
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Alibaba’s founder and chairman Jack Ma has warned that the latest technological revolution could risk another world war.
Speaking at World Economic Forum in Davos on Friday, Ma warned that although he had trusted in technology’s ability to do good, new technologies were also set to cause significant social issues.
“First, as a technology company, we believe that technology is great for human beings. We believe that technology can create a lot of jobs,” Ma said.
“When in its early stages, every technology creates worries… Worries, if you do not manage them well, create problems.
“The first world war was because of the first technology revolution. The second technology revolution caused the second world war. This is the third technology revolution – we’re coming.”
He added that modern technology, including access to smartphones, has allowed people to “buy globally, sell globally, deliver globally, pay globally and travel globally”.
This was reportedly the vision behind Alibaba’s new global trading platform the Electronic World Trading Platform (eWTP), which was developed alongside the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
The eWTP is designed to allow for tariff-free trade between countries on transactions below $1 million.
“Most of free-trade zones today are designed only for big companies,” Ma said.
“We think there should be free trade zones for small companies to import and export.”
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