Alibaba and Malaysia announced Wednesday that they will set up a logistics and e-commerce hub in the Southeast Asian country to boost small and medium-sized companies, a first for the internet giant outside China. The hub will be located near Kuala Lumpur International Airport as part of a "digital free trade zone" formally launched by Alibaba's founder Jack Ma and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in the capital.

The facility will act as a warehouse and centralised customs clearance for Malaysia and the region, Alibaba said in a statement.

Officials refused to divulge investment figures, but an Alibaba spokeswoman said the facility would be operational at the end of 2019.

Ma, who in November became the Malaysian government's "digital economy" adviser, said "97 percent of business in Malaysia are small businesses but they control only less than 40 percent" of economic output.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2017