Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak said he is glad the new Pakatan Harapan government has not cancelled the Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ) which was initiated by the previous BN government.

"I am grateful that the DFTZ which the previous BN government had worked to conceptualise and launch in record speed together with Alibaba has not been cancelled by the Harapan government," he said in a statement on Facebook tonight.

Najib said the DFTZ can create some 60,000 jobs and facilitate around US$65 billion worth of traded goods by 2025.

"Initiatives like DFTZ are also tools to prepare the young people for jobs that do not even exist yet.

"The digital economy is the fastest growing sector in our economy. It currently accounts for 18.2 percent of our gross domestic product and is expected to grow and contribute 20 percent to our country’s GDP by 2020," he said.

Najib in his statement also congratulated Alibaba on the launch of its Kuala Lumpur office today, which is its first office outside of China and in South East Asia.

The new government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Dr Mahthir Mohamad, has reviewed various megaprojects by the previous government in a bid to rein in the national debt.

However, Mahathir had described the DFTZ as a "good" initiative and said that it will proceed under the new government.

Alibaba executive chairperson Jack Ma earlier today also met Mahathir at his office in Putrajaya.

Ma, who is on a visit to Malaysia, was appointed as a government adviser on the digital economy by the previous government.