By IPS Correspondents
MONTEVIDEO, Jul 9 1998 (IPS)

The biggest network of on-line commercial information in developing countries, TIPS, with UNDP backing, launched a new strategy this week in Uruguay to boost electronic commerce among small and medium-sized businesses in Latin America.

The network set up by TIPS (Technological Information Promotion System) offers companies in the region the opportunity to make on- line business contacts.

TIPS is a UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) project which since 1986 has been involved in the production of technological, commercial and business information services.

It also enjoys strong European Union support, and has national bureaus in 40 Latin American, Asian, African and European countries, making it the developing world’s largest network of information and technology.

As of 1995, the network has focussed its strategy on electronic commerce, which “does not exist without the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises,” underlined Esteban Valenti, regional director of TIPS for Latin America and the Caribbean.

TIPS has specialised in designing and implementing advanced business communication systems conceived of and developed with the needs of small and medium-sized companies in mind. It currently has cooperation agreements with 215 business chambers and organisations of small and medium-sized enterprises.

The latest system was launched Tuesday in the headquarters of the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI), with the presence of the regional body’s Secretary-General, Antonio Antunes, UN representative in Uruguay Eduardo Nino Moreno, and the head of the European Commission delegation, Jesus Orus.

The proposal entails three kinds of electronic commerce: company-company, company-client (web pages of individual companies) and state-company, with respect to tendering processes.

According to calculations by TIPS, some eight billion dollars worth of goods will be traded worldwide over the Internet this year – a figure that will have soared to 327 billion dollars by the year 2002.

“Electronic commerce is a key element of Latin American participation in the large commercial flows and in profound changes that will take place in the world of business, investment and commerce with the wholesale introduction of new technologies,” said Valenti.

He added that Internet would “radically change” when electronic commerce fully occupied its dynamic niche on the information superhighway.

Internet is still a “teenager” he said, “in search of its own identity. Electronic commerce and the generalised use of data transmission and communication technologies by small and medium- sized companies will be an essential factor in Internet’s adult identity.

“The crucial question is when,” he added. “No other aspect has been as revolutionised by the growing presence of the information society, and by telecommunications and information technologies, as the time factor.

“Time defines the role of our developing countries, our companies, as an essential part of that process. It is the opportunity factor,” he stressed.

With that viewpoint in mind and based on TIPS’ aim of providing small and medium-sized businesses in developing countries with equal opportunities in the use of technological and commercial information, the network is offering companies the possibility of advertising free of charge until Aug. 7.

Those who have registered for their free access code by that time will be able to take advantage until Sep. 30 of a special annual subscription rate for on-line TIPS services in all countries of Latin America.

Offers, requests and bids for products, technologies and services, which constitute the central component of the system, are updated on a daily basis. Users can also obtain information and support for their business deals, and place information of a corporate nature as well as commercial offers and needs on the network.

TIPS Internet addresses are the following: http://tips.org.uy (the Americas); http://tips.org (Europe), and http://redtips.org (the United States).

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