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Green pastures seen for e-commerce

Our Bureau

NEW DELHI, Oct. 29

INDIAN e-commerce is projected to touch Rs 25,200 crore by 2005 from the current level of Rs 250 crore, achieved last year in business-to-business transactions (B2B) and Rs 50 crore in business-to-consumer (B2C).

This was stated by Mr Richard McCormick, President, International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), while inaugurating a seminar on `Promoting international trade through e-commerce', organised by ICC India on Monday.

Mr McCormick said more and more Indians would go online to find sources, services, labour and markets as well as faster, less-expensive ways of gathering information and dealing with Governments and others. He said, ``You have already put many of the rig ht building blocks in place.''

Increasingly, small companies that want to do business with larger companies will find that they have to use the Internet to quote prices, transmit specifications, receive orders, monitor inventories, verify and track shipments, transmit account informat ion and answer questions by e-mail. In other words, the Internet is not a ``new business''. It is a new way and often the only way of doing the business that we used to do by other means, he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr S. Laxminarayan, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Information Technology, said the Government would give top priority to promote e-commerce. It will be conducting focussed studies and creating a trust in electronic environment, e stablishing a digital signature framework.

Mr Laxminarayan added hereafter, it would be a knowledge-based society with universal Internet access.

Development of IT infrastructure will touch $1.98 trillion in 2004 and e-commerce spending will reach $2.5 trillion in the same period. The total Internet economy in 2004 will be to the tune of $4.48 trillion.

Further, he said B2B e-commerce in Asia will reach $616 billion in 2005, which is 28 per cent of the global total. Speaking to mediapersons, Mr McCormick said business must go on and the world of business was optimistic about the future.

On the future of the aviation sector following the attacks in the US, he expressed hope that passenger traffic will return to normal within three months. However, he added that the next 15 months will prove difficult for the industry as far as making pro fit was concerned.

On ICC's policy for the Qatar ministerial conference of WTO in November 2001, Mr McCormick said ICC believed it provides a valuable opportunity to launch new multilateral trade negotiations.

``A start has already been made in Geneva, where negotiations on trade in services and agriculture are already under way as mandated by the Uruguay Round,'' he said.

Of particular importance to ICC is addressing the concerns of developing countries. Some of the issues which need to be taken up include tariff and non-tariff barriers, better market access, preventing abuse of anti-dumping measures, facilitating trade, international investment, and trade and environment, he said.

Pic.: Mr Richard McCormick, President, International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), with Mr A. Vellayan (left), President, ICC India, addressing a seminar on `Promoting international trade through e-commerce' in the Capital on Monday.

Picture by Ramesh Sharma