U.S. President Barack Obama was in Manila last week, and he was so taken with a local startup that he orchestrated a set up between it and Alibaba founder, Jack Ma.
Obama was in town for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, which hosted world leaders and top business heads, but he found time to get a little Filipino startup in front of one of the world's most important business leaders.
A video posted by Miroslava Duma (@miraduma) on Nov 22, 2015 at 11:46pm PST
In a session on stage with the two men, Filipino engineer Aisa Mijeno talked about her startup, Salt, which creates lamps powered by saltwater -- an alternative to dangerous kerosene lamps that is typically used by many in the developing nation.
In response to her saying she needs funding support to get Salt off the ground, Obama looks knowingly at Ma and points at him, while Ma grins and nods in acknowledgement. "I'm just saying... I feel like I'm serving as a matchmaker here a little bit" says Obama, to an applauding crowd.
According to local reports, Obama's staff got in touch with Mijeno after finding her online.
Ma was China's richest man till this year, when he slipped to third place with his personal fortune of $24.5 billion.
Watch the full session on stage: