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Alibaba planning to buy Rocket Internet's Pakistan unit

Keerthi Mohan
By Keerthi MohanMar 20, 2018
Keerthi Mohan
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China-based Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is reportedly mulling the possibility of acquiring Rocket Internet’s online retail unit in Pakistan. This would help Alibaba expand its reach in the South Asian country, a person with knowledge of the matter was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.

Alibaba is currently negotiating a price for Daraz, Rocket Internet's retail unit that deals with shoes and fashion. The discussions are in an early stage and no decisions have been made so far, the insider who did not want to be identified said.
Pakistan has 30 million active Internet users, and e-commerce is going to be a thriving business, Daraz said in a statement last month, reported Bloomberg.
According to research group Euromonitor International, Pakistan is home to world's fastest growing retail market, thanks to rising incomes. The market is expected to expand 8.2 percent per annum through 2016-2021 as disposable income has doubled since 2010.
Improving security conditions in Pakistan, economic expansion and cheap consumer prices have enabled shoppers to splurge. It helps that almost two-third of the nation's 207.8 million people are aged under 30.

“We have a new millennial shopper at hand. They don’t mind spending to have the kind of lifestyle they would like,” said Shabori Das, senior research analyst at Euromonitor, was quoted as saying. “It’s not like the Baby Boomer generation where savings for the future generation was important.”

Interestingly, Pakistan is going through what its neighbour India experienced four years back.

Both India and Pakistan have young population equipped with more income and less desire to save. This is a distinct difference to what retailers elsewhere are dealing with, pointed out Das.

Alibaba’s interest in Pakistan comes in the wake of China financing a number of infrastructure projects across the country as part of its Belt and Road trade initiative.
alibabarocket internetdarazalibaba group holding ltd

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