Jack Ma: Stop looking to manufacturing growth for jobs

Jack Ma, Executive Chairman, Alibaba Group, speaks at The Bloomberg Global Business Forum in New York City, U.S., September 20, 2017. - Reuters

TORONTO: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd chairman Jack Ma, who wooed President Donald Trump earlier this year with a pledge to help create one million new US jobs by 2021, said people should stop looking to manufacturing to drive economic growth.

While the rapid speed of technological change is understandably causing concern about the future, Ma called on leaders to embrace the promise of advances like artificial intelligence to span whole new industries.