ELECTRONIC COMMERCE INITIATIVES OF ESCAP: BUSINESS FACILITATION NEEDS
(ST/ESCAP/1854), 1997
Series: Studies in Trade and Investment No. 31
This publication is the third under the theme, "electronic commerce initiatives of ESCAP." Articles in this publication introduce electronic commerce and related business facilitation issues including strategic and technical planning for electronic commerce, legal challenges, use of the Internet, business strategies, and case studies of amendment to laws for electronic commerce.
Electronic commerce encompasses "inter-organizational systems that facilitate many kinds of communications involved in a commercial transaction." It is a business strategy using technologies to capture, store, manipulate, analyse and visualize diverse sets of trade-referenced data required for electronic communication among enterprises, customers, suppliers, business enterprises, government organizations and financial institutions.
Facilitation measures are essential to improve the business performance of developing economies in the ESCAP region. There is a growing awareness for an orderly application of facilitation measures and technologies in the developing countries, which are now entering into global markets. Firms, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, face challenges in order to take full advantage of the potential of electronic commerce and stay competitive in the global market. This publication will contribute to the ongoing debate on how electronic commerce technologies can support international trade and will prove useful to trade policy makers and technical experts to promote and implement electronic commerce.
For further information, please contact:
The Director International Trade and Economic Cooperation Division Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) United Nations Building Rajadamnern Avenue Bangkok 10200 Thailand Tel. (662) 288 1410, 288 1431 Fax. (662) 288 1026, 288 1027