SHANGHAI
--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep. 9, 2015--
AGCO
(NYSE:AGCO), a world-leading manufacturer and distributor of
agricultural equipment, today signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU)
with the
Alibaba Group
in
Shanghai
to start an
“Internet-plus-Agriculture” crossover program.
This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150909006229/en/
AGCO Executives sign memorandum of understanding with
Alibaba Group's
Taobao business division to start "Internet-plus-Agriculture" crossover program.
(Photo: Business Wire)
AGCO Senior Vice President, General Manager of
Asia Pacific
, Gary Collar and Fred Yang, Vice President, Managing Director of AGCO China, attended
the signing ceremony, along with Frank Yu, Senior Director of
Alibaba
Group’s Rural Taobao business division. Rural Taobao is responsible for
promoting rural e-commerce by removing bottlenecks in logistics and
information flow between urban and rural areas.
According to the MOU,
AGCO
products will be featured on Rural Taobao’s
online platform (cun.taobao.com), which is dedicated to offering
agricultural resources and consumer goods to rural villagers in
China
.
At the same time, both parties agreed to extend their cooperation to
cloud computing and big data, aiming to promote the development of
“modern agriculture” and “intelligent agriculture” in
China
. In
addition, both parties look forward to expanding the cooperation in
rural finance and other areas.
“We are entering a global phase of the ‘Internet Plus’ age. The merging
of internet and traditional industries is set to go deeper still and
will lead to the creation of new development formats,” said Mr. Collar.
“Agriculture as a primary industry will certainly be one of the key
forces to drive the economic transition and accelerate this
revolutionary innovation in the industrial model.”
The MOU objectives are aligned with government policy for the
development of the agricultural sector in
China
. According to the ‘Made
in
China
2025’ initiative, approved by China’s
State Council
in March,
the agricultural machinery industry is one of several industry sectors
that will be prioritized under its “intelligent manufacturing program.”
This will draw on information technology, data technology and the
Internet of Things
in the design, processing, testing and assembly of
agricultural machines. The Chinese government made clear its intention
to prioritize investment in agricultural and rural areas, develop the
pilot-financing and rental projects for large-sized agricultural
machinery, strongly encourage agricultural machinery leasing and press
forward with the reform of rural financing systems.
“This strong strategic cooperation between
AGCO
and
Alibaba
happens in
the context of economic development and is a pioneering act in the
agriculture machinery industry,” said Mr. Yang of AGCO China. “As a
responsible international company and with the favorable policies of the
Chinese government,
AGCO
is looking to adapt and promote the merging of
modern agriculture with mobile internet, big data, cloud computing and
the
Internet of Things
, and to stimulate innovation in modern
agricultural production, new business patterns and industry models.
Meanwhile,
AGCO
will further enhance our production quality, sales
efficiency and service so that our product information and services can
reach our customers in a more timely and complete manner.”
“China is entering an explosive growth period in information consumption
industries. It is estimated by 2015 the amount will exceed
3,200 billion
yuan
, an increase of over 20% compared to 2014,” said Mr. Yu of Rural
Taobao. “We are honored to join hands with
AGCO Corporation
to bring
world-class agricultural machinery to rural villagers across
China
,
along with other areas of collaboration. This underscores our commitment
to connecting rural villagers with agricultural resources and consumer
goods that can help elevate their productivity and standard of living.”
About
AGCO
AGCO
(NYSE: AGCO) is a global leader in the design, manufacture and
distribution of agricultural equipment. AGCO supports more productive
farming through a full line of tractors, combines, hay tools, sprayers,
forage equipment, grain storage and protein production systems, seeding
and tillage implements and replacement parts. AGCO products are sold
through five core equipment brands, Challenger®, Fendt®, GSI®, Massey
Ferguson® and Valtra® and are distributed globally through a combination
of approximately 3,100 independent dealers and distributors in more than
140 countries. Founded in 1990, AGCO is headquartered in Duluth,
GA,
USA
. In 2014,
AGCO
had net sales of
$9.7 billion
. For more information,
visit http://www.AGCOcorp.com.
AGCO
: 25 years of identity, centuries of history
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150909006229/en/
Source:
AGCO
AGCO China
Susan Fan, +86 (10) 5706 2928
susan.fan@agcocorp.com
or
Instinctif
Partners
Sandra Sun, +86 (21) 6441 6701
sandra.sun@instinctif.com