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Jack Ma, the founder and chairman of China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, offered extensive praise of Israel during his acceptance speech for an honorary doctorate from Tel Aviv University on Thursday evening.

Ma was concluding a weeklong visit to Israel, which included a trip to the Kosel and meetings with Prime Minister Netanyahu and business leaders.

Below is a transcript of some of Ma’s remarks:

“Many years ago, when I first started Alibaba, during tough times, a friend said to me: If you want to be stronger, please, go to Israel. Over the years Alibaba has had a lot of setbacks, and we’ve made a lot of mistakes. There were thousands of times I said to myself and to colleagues at Alibaba: never give up. [In Israel] We find people here are born to believe ‘never give up’. This is what has made Israel a miracle in only 70 years.

You don’t have any cars, but you have the best technology for car manufacturing. You don’t have any diamonds, but you have one of the world’s largest diamond exchanges. You don’t have water, you don’t have oil, you don’t have any resources, still you make yourself so strong. In my mind, Israel represents, wisdom, innovation, and persistence.

The most precious thing in this world is the human brain. The most valuable asset we have is that we’ve all gone through tough days and tough experiences, and a lot of failures and mistakes. It is because of our tough lives that we are different.

Alibaba’s mission is to help small business. We believe small is beautiful, and small is powerful. Israel has proved that small is powerful, and it is on the way to small is beautiful. We think beautiful means peace and inclusiveness.

I feel honored and inspired to meet you. There’s an amazing history here, and amazing things we have to learn. All human beings in the world should learn about the history here.

When I stand here in this great land, with your vision, your creativity, and your wisdom, I feel so honored to get this [honorary doctorate from Tel Aviv University]. This honor is on behalf of all the entrepreneurs fighting for their lives, fighting for the future on the way.

Coming to Israel is a dream I’ve had for many years. Israel is a prosperous and innovative economy. I should’ve been here earlier, and I should come here more and more. You should not just read about Israel, you should come here, feel it, touch it.

In Israel I learned one word: Chutzpah –the courage to challenge convention. I believe this is the spirit that belongs to the 21st Century. This spirit belongs to the tech revolution, and belongs to the future. In the past we made people like a machine, in the future we will make machines like people.

By standing on this land I understand how important peace is. The first technological revolution, directly or indirectly, caused World War One. The second technological revolution caused WW2. Now we are entering the third technological revolution. Human beings should have no wars, but if there’s going to be war, the war should be against poverty, disease, and [threats to] the environment.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)