Cost-effective online trading for SMEs

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have been estimated to account for over 99.6 percent of registered business firms in the Philippines, employing 66 percent of the country’s labor force and contributing some 32 percent to the Gross National Product. Thus, the development of SMEs through cost-effective e-trading could prop up the economy.

E-commerce provides companies the capability to extend their businesses to the Internet. However, the difficulty of putting up the system and the costs involved are just some of the barriers that prevent most SMEs to move on to the global marketplace.

Thomas Price, president of East West Electronic Trade Center Ltd. (EWETC), says his company addresses the needs of SMEs as well as the big companies by making e-commerce simple and cost-effective.

EWETC, an international organization that aims to establish global trade in the Philippines and all over the world, has developed a solutions package called International Trade and Banking Facility (iTBF) to help SMEs get into e-commerce.

iTBF is a combination of software, hardware and practices that links bankers, importers, exporters, manufacturers, buyers and sellers all over the world via a secure network.

"SMEs need not redo all their hardware and network, they just have to simply sign up and iTBF will just fit into their e-commerce necessities," Price says.

"Some technologies can cost over $300,000 or require millions of dollars for the hardware which can be too expensive for SMEs. With iTBF, if you are connected to the Internet, you can already use it," he adds.

iTBF also integrates a one-time payment scheme for both sellers and buyers. There is a standard fee for all members regardless of the number of products one wishes to trade online.

iTBF is also versatile enough to accommodate B2B activities such as e-procurement and management of recognized suppliers, public notification of government and commercial bids, real-time currency trading and money market auction.