Jack Ma, CEO of Alibaba Group, Thomas Trikasih Lembong, Indonesia's minister of trade, and Luis Alberto Moreno, president of the Inter-American Development Bank, join a Boao Forum for Asia session in Boao, Hainan province on Wednesday. The session discussed setting rules for global e-commerce. [Photo/China Daily]

"The global allocation of resources in the past largely benefited developed economies and multinationals. In the Internet Age, we need to update the trade rules so more people benefit," Long said.

Luis Alberto Moreno, president of the Inter-American Development Bank, said the free trade regimes of the world were problematic and businesses should play a bigger role. Kasper Jacobson, chief executive officer of Mead Johnson Nutrition, said it was important to eliminate geographical discrimination.

Indonesian Trade Minister Tom Lembong said the e-WTP proposed by Jack Ma reflected the shortcomings of the current world free trade regime and it might play a part in solving trade protectionism.

Ma said the new platform will not replace the WTO, but rather, complement the existing free trade regime. Overall trade will continue to grow.

He said it was a pressing task, to establish the e-WTP, as the pace of doing business in the Internet Age is much faster than in the past when free trade talks could take years to conclude. He said he will try to raise the e-WTP topic to the G20 meetings.

China will play host to G20 leaders in September this year in Hangzhou, where the Alibaba Group, led by Ma, is headquartered.

Long said the stakeholders, including businesses, governments and civil society should be included in the creation of the e-WTP. Multilateral organizations have done some ground work to formulate global rules for e-commerce, but that the government still has a role to play, with the possibility of an institution or even a secretariat being established for the e-WTP.

It would be good if the concept can eventually become part of the global trade protocols like the WTO, he said.