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Digital rift may widen as Asia gears up for B2B e-business
SINGAPORE, July 9: Disparities in technology and infrastructure and the lack of firm strategies will hamper adoption of business-to-business electronic commerce (B2B e-com-merce) among companies in the less developed Asian countries, analysts say. reports AFP,
Many companies in the region are aware of the need to implement B2D e-commerce plans amid increasing competition and globalization and widespread Internet use. they said.
However in Southeast Asia, excluding Singapore, the lack of Infrastructure and value-added tradable goods "could further widen the gap in economic development with the more developed economies in Asia-Pacific." Goldman Sachs said in its most recent report on B2B e-commerce in the region.
South Korea. Australia. Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singa-
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pore, because of their high Spending in upgrading and integrating their information technology (IT) systems, are set to adopt B2B faster than their less developed counterparts.
By end-2001, we expect e-comnierce to accelerate in developed markets." while China's B2B market will catch up by 2003 to 2004, the report said
“We expect the remaining (Southeast Aslan) economies to lag further behind, hurting their competitiveness." the report adder!.
B2B e-commerce involves websites that match buyers ami sellers in a common marketplace and eliminate middlemen. cutting costs and steps in the supply chain.
Estimates ot revenues from B2B e-commerce vary widely. Goldman Sachs expects it to rise to 440 billion US dollars by 2005 from some 25 billion dol-
lars this year
IT research firm Forrester Research is more optimistic, estimating 1.5 trillion dollars In sales from the region s B2B e-commerce by 2004 while Gartner Group expects 992 billion dollars by 2004.
The Digital Asset, an online regional IT ami finance Journal. said that as of its last count, sponsors and venture capitalists have now allocated more than 100 million dollars to back various B2B sites.
Among the companies cited by Goldman Sachs for their B2B initiatives were Hong Kongs Hutchison Whampoa with its plans to establish a global transportation supply chain, ami goods distributor Li and Fung.
But implementation of B2B plans among other companies in the Asia-Pacific region is another story.
In its survey of 70 companies
In 12 industries in I 1 countries, more than 71 per cent of firms have been studying B2B ••-commerce plans, but fewer than half have implemented a strategy-, said Goldman Sachs analyst Joseph Lee in the report.
"Next year, having an e-commerce plan will be a necessity, not a luxury Late adopters run the risk of always playing catch up ami never really getting If the investment house said in its report.
The Digital Asset noted many companies were announcing ambitious plans to become leading B2B exchanges, without even having a model of how their virtual marketplace would work.
Hiring Industry experts "should also be able to open doors and conclude partnerships and alliances that arc vital for a B2B site to succeed." the Journal said.