Asia e-commerce to reach $440 b. in 2005

HONG KONG: Business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce transactions in Asia
(excluding Japan) will reach US $440 billion by 2005, nearly 10 per cent of the
forecast global total of US $4.5 trillion, according to a Goldman Sachs report
released on Thursday.

The survey of 70 companies across the region also concluded that B2B
e-commerce will boost economic growth in individual Asian countries by around
0.2 per cent to 0.8 per cent a year over the next decade.

Still, e-commerce adoption in Asia is uneven, trailing the United States by
about 18 months, with developed markets such as Australia and South Korea
leading the e-commerce way, followed by Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan.

China, with a less-developed infrastructure, will begin to see a B2B boom in
2003-04, while southeast Asia will lag further behind, the report said.

Adoption of B2B e-commerce will allow companies to cut costs and extend their
market, but will also intensify competition, the report said.

The study found that 71 per cent of respondents had been planning their
e-commerce strategies for at least six months, although 45 per cent had not yet
settled on an e-commerce plan.

Early regional B2B leaders identified by Goldman Sachs were Hong Kong's
Hutchison Whampoa, China-based PC-maker Legend Holdings and Hong Kong’s
trading firm Li & Fung.

(C) Reuters Limited 2000.