Jack Ma in Israel, Will Meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Jack Ma, the founder and chairman of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., has landed in Israel Monday with a large delegation including senior executives from Alibaba's subsidiaries, two people familiar with the matter told Calcalist on condition of anonymity.

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In October, Alibaba announced plans to set up offices in Tel Aviv as part of a $15 billion global research and development push. In late 2017 Alibaba completed its deal to buy the assets of Israel-based QR codes startup Visualead Ltd. Alibaba has also invested in Israeli augmented reality software startup Infinity Augmented Reality Israel Ltd., in e-commerce search engine Twiggle Ltd., in augmented reality hardware company Lumus Ltd., and in auto computer vision startup Nexar Ltd.

Calcalist first reported the planned May visit in January, revealing Mr. Ma will be awarded an honorary doctorate from Tel Aviv University on Thursday, May 3.

During his visit, Mr. Ma will meet with state officials, local companies and investors, the two people said. He will be meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and with Minister of Economy Eli Cohen, representatives for both offices told Calcalist.

Tuesday morning, Mr. Ma will meet with Jerusalem-based venture capital fund Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP), of which Alibaba became a limited partner in 2015, and with some of JVP's portfolio companies, the two people said.