Alibaba Group Takes Additional Steps to Help SMEs in China Turn to e-Commerce

BEIJING, March 31, 2009 /PRNewswire-Asia via COMTEX/ ----Alisoft, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alibaba Group, today announced that it will offer free Internet-based management software to all 42 million small- and medium-enterprises (SMEs) in China as part of the Group's ongoing effort to make it easy for SMEs to do business using e-commerce.

The software, called "Shopkeeper(TM: 63.44, 0, 0%)", comprises an accounting and finance module in the initial edition to be launched today; an inventory management and a customer relations management module will both be available in May 2009. Shopkeeper(TM: 63.44, 0, 0%) will be free to SME users for at least three years. Apart from the free software license, Alisoft will provide free upgrades, training and customer support for all users. Shopkeeper(TM: 63.44, 0, 0%), a simple-to-use software targeted at key decision makers in SMEs, addresses the need of small business owners who desire to keep track of their money, inventory and customers.

To make Shopkeeper(TM: 63.44, 0, 0%) and other business software widely available to the market, Alisoft will invest up to RMB1 billion over the next three years to cultivate the SME-focused software industry, and further drive usage of Internet-based software, or "software-as-a-service", as a new paradigm of how businesses use technology to manage their operations.

"We are confident that this offering will bring a revolutionary change to how small businesses manage their operations in the coming years. While other traditional software companies have contributed to the market development in the past 20 years, we are hoping to see more new and innovative software companies join hands with us in nurturing the high-potential SME-focused software industry. The free offer signifies an important step we are taking from "Meet at Alibaba" to "Work at Alibaba". Alisoft, together with our parent Alibaba Group, will further forge ahead to build the best e-commerce infrastructure and ecosystem for businesses around the world," said Oliver Wang, President of Alisoft.

According to a report issued by the Center for Informatization Study of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in 2007, just under 5% of SMEs in China are using enterprise resource planning software, which demonstrates the tremendous potential for the business management software industry. Enterprise resource planning software includes a variety of basic, indispensable functions, including accounting, inventory and customer relations management. However, most enterprise management software available in the market is usually designed for large enterprises and is not cost effective for SMEs.

Shopkeeper(TM: 63.44, 0, 0%) is specially designed for business owners, serving as a tool to monitor the business operations and financial status of the business in a way understandable to business owners who do not have technical financial backgrounds. In addition to its accounting and cash flow management functions, the Internet-based software is also enabled via mobile access and allows SMEs to make online payments via Alipay, the online payment solution leader in China and a wholly owned subsidiary of Alibaba Group. Subscribers of Shopkeeper(TM: 63.44, 0, 0%) can also apply for loans under "Ali-Loan", the SME loan- assistance program initiated by Alibaba.com, which is supported by eight major banks in China.

About Alibaba Group

Alibaba Group is a global e-commerce leader and the largest e-commerce company in China. Since it was founded in 1999, Alibaba Group has grown to include the following core businesses: Alibaba.com, Alibaba Group's flagship company and the world's leading B2B e-commerce company; Taobao.com, China's largest consumer e-commerce company; Alipay.com, China's leading online payment service; Yahoo! Koubei, a company providing online classified listings for local services and search; and Alisoft.com, an Internet-based business management software company targeting SMEs in China.

About Alisoft

Alisoft ( www.alisoft.com ) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alibaba Group. It develops, markets and delivers Internet-based business management solutions targeting small businesses across China. Through its Software as a Service (SaaS) model, Alisoft provides small businesses with low-cost, user-friendly enterprise and financial management tools. It commands more than 40 percent of the Chinese SaaS market. Alisoft was the first in Asia to launch a "software store" platform that integrated advanced Internet, telecommunication and software applications. With support from the fast growing number of independent software vendors (ISVs) in China, its software store introduced an online supermarket for software on a pay-as-you-go basis.

About Alibaba.com

Alibaba.com Limited (HKSE: 1688) (HK.1688) is the global leader in business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce and the flagship company of Alibaba Group. Founded in 1999, Alibaba.com makes it easy for millions of buyers and suppliers around the world to do business online through three marketplaces: a global trade marketplace (alibaba.com) for importers and exporters, a Chinese marketplace (alibaba.com.cn) for domestic trade in China, and, through an associated company, a Japanese marketplace (alibaba.co.jp) facilitating trade to and from Japan. Together, its marketplaces form a community of 38 million registered users from over 240 countries and regions. Headquartered in Hangzhou, Alibaba.com has offices in more than 40 cities across Greater China as well as in Europe and the United States.

About Alipay

Alipay is China's leading online payment service, enabling individuals and businesses to execute payments online in an easy, safe and secure manner. At the end of August 2008, Alipay had a registered user base of more than 150 million as of the end of February 2009, was facilitating 4 million transactions each day and had a daily payment volume of RMB700 million. Alipay partners with domestic PRC banks to provide an escrow service for payments, which reduces the settlement risks faced by Alipay's customers in their e-commerce transactions. Alibaba Group founded Alipay, headquartered in Hangzhou, in 2004.

Source: http://www.foxbusiness.com/

Alisoft to spend $146 mln to market its software

BEIJING, March 31 (Reuters) - A unit of Alibaba Group said on Tuesday it will spend up to 1 billion yuan ($146 million) over three years to promote its free Internet-based management software to Chinese small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Alisoft will provide the accounting and financial management software, named Shopkeeper, to help SMEs do business over the Internet, said the unit of Alibaba Group, China's largest e-commerce group, in a statement.

Firms in the world's third-largest economy, especially SMEs that rely heavily on export, have been struggling in the face of dried up overseas demand.

The listed arm of Alibaba (1688.HK) said last week its latest quarterly net profit slid 35.4 percent from the previous quarter as it raised spending on marketing to counter deteriorating trade flows.[nPEK323396]

The software has already attracted over 135,000 users after a two-week trial run, according to the website of Alisoft, which was founded in 2007. ($=6.84 yuan) (Reporting by Michael Wei; Editing by Kirby Chien)

Source: http://www.reuters.com/

Julius Baer appoints Collardi private bank CEO

Alibaba News Channel - Swiss banking group Julius Baer appointed Boris Collardi as new chief executive of its private banking unit, a permanent replacement for Alex Widmer, who committed suicide in December.

Collardi, born in 1974 and currently chief operating officer of the private bank unit Bank Julius Baer, takes over from Johannes de Gier, who served as interim CEO following Widmer’s death.

"Mr. Collardi is young, not quite in his mid-30s, and he took over the COO position at a very young age, but I’m sure board wouldn’t have chosen him if that had been a caveat," said Kepler Capital Markets analyst Mattias Bueeler.

Source: http://www.hedgeco.net/

CompUSA Opens Sales Offices

CompUSA, the CE retail chain that essentially returned from the dead last year, is expanding its operations, opening new sales offices in two U.S. states, which will employ 35 people in total.

The retailer, which is owned by Systemax, has opened business-to-business sales offices in Boise, Idaho and Sioux City, South Dakota. The Idaho office will deal primarily with government and enterprise accounts, while the South Dakota office will handle small- to medium-size businesses. The offices mark the first significant moves into the Midwest and West; the company's stores are currently concentrated in Florida and Texas.

“This new business-to-business marketing force is a reflection of our strong position and our long-term strategic expansion plans,” said Gilbert Fiorentino, CEO of Systemax's Technology Products Group. “We plan to hit the ground running with this new team of seasoned professionals, with an average of 10-14 years of experience in the industry. They are the best in the business and will assist in expanding our B2B sales efforts.”

Source: http://www.dealerscope.com/

Appointment Events: the Next Big b2b Thing?

Trade shows may be taking a hit this year, but one kind of events programming could prove resilient, even robust, in a recessionary environment—“appointment events.” As practiced by companies like Questex-owned McLean Events, these custom gatherings host up to 100 buyers in a given industry (all paid for by sponsoring suppliers) who “speed date” with the suppliers and conduct prearranged appointments. “Appointment-based events are to trade shows as digital is to print,” says Kerry Gumas, president and CEO, Questex Media Group, which purchased McLean in early 2007. “There is a clear, measurable return on investment when you are guaranteed appointments with 20 buyers.”

A typical appointment event occurs at a luxury venue away from the typical trade show and exhibit atmosphere. Buyer and seller profiles are posted weeks before the event and specific appointments are arranged at the venue with the companies the buyers choose. In the McLean model, the second day of the event includes a speed-dating session where buyers can meet suppliers who were not on their meeting docket.

Gumas says that appointment events is one of the fastest-growing parts of his company, which publishes a range of titles in the hotel and spa verticals as well as the newly acquired FierceMarkets line of e-newsletters. As the sponsorship of trade events softens, interest in this model seems to increase, he says. “They are doing extremely well. It is purely back to ROI and performance. Compared to a large-scale trade show exhibit, a marketer can take a smaller budget and get guaranteed appointments. It is a very efficient business mode, we have found.”

“[When we purchased McLean Events two years ago,] we saw it as an event format that would do well in a down economy,” says Gumas. This is proving true, and so Questex plans to roll out the model across its portfolio of vertical publishing markets in 2009.

Questex was among the few b2b publishing companies to show overall growth in ad pages across titles in 2008, according to IMS. For more of our interview with Gumas and Questex’s recession strategy, see next week's issue of min's b2b.

Source: http://www.minonline.com/

B2B sees growth, despite global downturn

ASIA-PACIFIC - Business-to-business spending in Asia-Pacific has seen significant growth in 2008 despite the global downturn, bolstered by initiatives taken to secure market share as economies began downgrading, according to a report by Business Strategies Group.

Among the region’s most prominent B2B players is Alibaba, Global Sources and CMP Asia, and each have displayed year-on-year revenue growth ranging of 39 per cent, 14 per cent and 19 per cent, respectively.

According to the report, measures including a focus on entering new markets and streamlining operations for lower production costs contributed to these companies’ success. Alibaba and Global Sources both sought to make a push into India throughout the year, the report notes, and Alibaba also launched a global campaign to bolster its brand in the West.

Allocations made toward conventions, tourism and business development have also positively impacted Asia’s B2B sector, as millions from governments in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Korea and Thailand have been traded through businesses.

“2009 will undoubtedly be a down year for the exhibition business, but the impact on the B2B online sector is still an unknown,” said BSG principal Paul Woodward in a release. “Global Sources’ 2008 online revenues increased by 24 per cent and Alibaba.com’s by 39 per cent, but the key question is: how will their revamped online products will hold up this year.”

Source: http://www.brandrepublic.asia/

B2B marketers ‘failing to capitalize on leads’

A new report has highlighted key marketing mistakes to avoid during the recession, and highlighted the need for stronger accountability and metrics during the economic downturn.

The report, published by marketing automation firm Eloqua, outlines key strategies for B2B marketers to emerge stronger after a recession.

Titled ‘The Springboard Effect’ the report highlights key pitfalls made by marketers failing to capitalise on leads, and outlines strategies to help maximise opportunities and increase sales in a downturn.

Eloqua outlines the importance of analysing the economics of the sales and marketing funnel and how simply measuring click through and website visits is no longer a strong enough measure of marketing effectiveness.

Marketers instead need to look at how to optimise conversion rates throughout the marketing and sales pipeline, improving the rate at which current leads are qualified, routed, accepted by sales teams, included in forecasts and ultimately closed.

According to Eloqua’s report, on average B2B organisations convert fewer than 60 per cent of marketing leads into sales leads. By integrating sales and marketing databases and employing lead management and routing processes to improve lead handoff, businesses can boost this rate significantly.

The report highlights the importance of generating high volumes of responses, and while increasing inquiries by only one or two percent can have a significant impact on final revenue, greater emphasis needs to be placed on ensuring these leads are qualified and rated according to importance.

According to industry research firm Aberdeen Group, companies with the best lead prioritisation and scoring systems have a 192 per cent higher average lead qualification rate than those that do not.

By implementing lead profile scoring systems to rank respondents according to interest and deploying advanced marketing techniques such as segmentation, personalisation and event triggered automation, businesses can significantly increase the number of qualified leads sent to a sales team.

Commenting on the report, Stuart Wheldon, Director of Client Services, EMEA & APAC for Eloqua said: “In today’s economic climate it is increasingly important that marketers adapt strategies to help sales teams identify, prioritise and respond to revenue opportunities. Marketers are heavily involved in revenue creation – not only do they help drive leads to the top of the sales funnel, but also help provide content and market intelligence to keep new prospects interested.”

“The report highlights the need for B2B organisations to adopt a more intelligent approach and ensure that the right information is with the right team at the right time to best capitalise leads. Customers are increasingly demanding a more personalised approach and it is therefore vital that organisations understand prospect’s wants and needs, building strategies that not only help grow in a recession but also strive ahead of competitors and create a springboard effect when the market recovers.”

Source: http://www.netimperative.com/

focusing on business-to-business deals

LONDON, March 30 (Reuters) - Online gaming firm 888 (888.L) said it was in talks with over 50 potential strategic partners on Monday as it looked to expand its business-to-business activities to offset tougher trading in its consumer division.

888 reported better-than-expected 2008 results but said first-quarter revenue was expected to be slightly lower than the fourth quarter as the broader economic climate remained challenging, sending its shares lower.

Chief Executive Gigi Levy told Reuters the company is focusing on the expansion of its business-to-business division, which takes 888's existing software and infrastructure and provides those services to third parties.

"If you're just doing business-to-consumer in a recession, that's going to be challenging. The business-to-business side gives us the ability to grow market share even if the overall market doesn't grow," CEO Gigi Levy told Reuters.

Levy expects the company to announce more agreements in the second quarter and to exceed the 14 business-to-business deals agreed in 2008 in the current year.

"We have a pipeline of more than 50 additional deals. A few of them are household names and a few are prominent players in online gaming that are using somebody else's services today.

"There are a few deals out there that could mean immediately a few million dollars to the bottom line. It's not transformational but it's very enhancing," Levy said.

888 announced a deal with Britain's biggest horseracing publication, the Racing Post, on Monday, its fourth strategic partnership agreement so far this year.

The company will provide the Racing Post with an online gaming operation, including customer support and payment processing services and Levy said he expects the transaction to be earnings enhancing this year.

BETTER-THAN-EXPECTED EARNINGS

888 reported a 23 percent rise in 2008 earnings before interest, tax, and depreciation (EBITDA) to $55.7 million.

That was ahead of the consensus market forecast which had stood at $53.7 million, according to a poll of seven analysts supplied by the company.

Shares in 888, which have lost over a quarter of their value over the last six months, had fallen by 6.4 percent to 105.25 pence at 1225 GMT.

Daniel Stewart analyst James Hollins said current trading was behind its expectations, raising questions over trading in the consumer division. He also said the full year dividend of 2.9 cents was below his 4.3 cents forecast.

Levy said 888 was also in discussions over possible acquisitions and expected to complete a purchase during 2009.

"The prices used to be very high around a year ago and now they're willing to sell for very low multiples. We're definitely going to take advantage of this. I would very much hope to see a deal done in the remainder of the year," he said.

Levy said 888 has cash of around $65 million, excluding customer money, and could spend around half of that on an acquisition if the right opportunity arose.

The company remains in discussions with the Department of Justice over a possible settlement in relation to its activities in the United States prior to legislation being passed in October 2006 effectively outlawing the industry.

"We want to be in a good position to take some of the U.S. market back if it re-opens," said Levy.

source: http://www.reuters.com/

B2B International invests in Confirmit Horizons software

LONDON - Business-to-business research agency B2B International has adopted the Confirmit Horizons platform to support all its web and telephone interviews, claiming to be the first industry organization to do so.

Confirmit Horizons is an on-demand market research platform for customer and employee feedback.

B2B International will use the new platform to support its telephone and web research through its on-demand delivery model, removing the need to install software.

Confirmit Horizons' software-as-a-service (Saas) model was a key factor in choosing it as the best platform for B2B International, said director Nick Hague, because it lowers costs and ensures security.

The Confirmit Reportal module enables the agency to carry out analysis and reporting of its combined web and telephone survey results, presenting detailed information to its clients in a variety of formats, including dashboard reports.

The Saas model also provides instant scalability to B2B International via the internet.

Once up and running with the platform at its UK operation, the agency plans to roll out the system to its staff and field workers in China and the US.

Hague said: "Many of the projects we run combine web and telephone interviewing activities. Confirmit Horizons removes the need for us to duplicate work for our telephone and web project.

"This will not only save us time and effort in the creation and delivery of surveys, but will also speed up our service to clients."

source: http://www.brandrepublic.com/

Offering side-by-side ranking

THE websites of paid and controlled circulation magazines and newspapers will be ranked side by side in a proposed new web auditing service being offered by the Audit Bureaux of Australia.

The move is expected to open new online advertising opportunities for business-to-business (B2B) publishers, whose sites may attract a lot of traffic in particular markets, such as information technology, but whose print publications are not ranked alongside paid circulation magazines in print audit reports.

B2B publishers have been among the first to see the advantages of having their website audiences audited, according to ABA chief executive Gordon Towell.

He said last week that the ABA was launching an internet auditing service based on Nielsen Online's Market Intelligence data.

He said it would be launched in May and the first verified audience figures would be available from June.

"We are going to publish ABA web audited tables for CAB (controlled circulation) and ABC (paid circulation) titles," Mr Towell said.

"My view is they're indistinguishable when you are talking about web traffic."

The ABA will issue reports allowing media buyers and publishers to see the top-ranked audited websites in particular categories, as well as providing audit certificates with print and online data side by side.

New forms of online media, such as interactive virtual versions of printed publications, may also be audited under the system.

B2B publisher Westwick-Farrow chief executive Adrian Farrow said he expected the web audit would be quite revolutionary in some niche markets because it would alert media buyers to sites outside big networks such as Ninemsn.

"It doesn't matter whether you are business or consumer (focused), your magazine might not be the highest-selling magazine but you might rank very well on your website," Mr Farrow said.

"That's a powerful sales tool. We're going to have all our websites audited as soon as it becomes available."

Some online publishers expressed the view privately last week that the audit indicated the print industry was trying to put its stamp of authority on internet publishers.

But media agency MediaCom chief executive Anne Parsons said online would benefit from being able to be evaluated in the same way other media were evaluated.

"You have to have a credible source for audience measurement," she said.

Mr Towell said online-only publishers would also benefit from having their audiences verified, giving media buyers confidence they were comparing like traffic with like across rival sites.

The Interactive Bureau of Australia is supporting the web audit.

IBA chief executive Paul Fisher said last week that verification would be the final piece of the puzzle for online publishers seeking to reassure advertisers their traffic numbers were reliable.

The internet industry's so-called hybrid audience measurement system, which will use Market Intelligence tag-based data in combination with information from a user panel, will be in place later this year and aims to provide more accurate audience numbers that may then be audited by the ABA.

Source: http://www.australianit.news.com.au/

AACCWR 10th Business To Business Expo

Mt. Vernon, NY - The African American Chamber of Commerce of Westchester and Rockland Counties, Inc. (AACCWR) cordially invite you to attend its 10th Annual Business-to-Business Expo (B2B) on Thursday, March 26, 2009 at the Yonkers Public Library at One Larkin Center, Yonkers, NY from 10:00am until 2:00pm.

A goal of the Chamber’s Supplier Diversity Program is to encourage an effective collaboration between qualified minority and women owned suppliers and large buying organizations. The B2B is an exciting and effective program which has produced significant contacts and contracts.

For 10 years the Chamber’s B2B has provided an excellent environment for suppliers to gather and exchange information and procurement opportunities with each other.

Participating vendors will include purchasing representatives from trade associations, state agencies and authorities and corporate entities.

The B2B has proven to be a powerful networking event and you are encouraged to attend. This year there is no fee associated with the event.

Space is limited; we will accept participants on a first come first serve basis. You don’t want to miss this opportunity!!

Source: http://www.westchester.com/

IDI Kicks Off Global Marketing Campaign

The Israel Diamond Institute Group of Companies (IDI) launched its new strategic marketing program ‘Together Works’. The campaign is aimed at demonstrating the Israeli Diamond Industry’s commitment to its international trading partners.

During the Friday announcement at BaselWorld, IDI Managing Director Eli Avidar said that the Israeli diamond industry is taking advantage of the current crisis for regrouping, readjustment and rethinking. He noted that the Israeli industry’s overall debt was down from $2.45 billion to $1.8 billion.

Avidar said that IDI was committed to providing the Israeli industry with the tools necessary to help diamond companies survive and even thrive during these difficult times.

He said that the ‘Together Works’ program includes print and online advertising in leading trade publications and websites. The campaign is based on the image of the handshake to portray the long standing relationships between Israeli diamantaires and their clients.

The program promotes an exclusive Business-to-Business service for Israeli diamond industry partners in the U.S. – a toll-free number 1-888-42-WORKS. The number will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week and will be the direct connection for ongoing and new clients to reach out with their immediate diamond needs. These will be uploaded in real time to IDI’s portal site, and all Israeli diamond companies with the relevant goods will be notified via text messages.

“The campaign is based on strengthening partnership and cooperation between our clients and our industry. We know that if we join hands and pool our strengths, we will be able to cross this bridge together and forge a new and better reality for the jewelry industry as a whole,” Avidar said.

Avidar also revealed that IDI had launched The Israeli Diamond Industry blog through which it hopes to develop an online B2B community and create a place for the industry and media to come together to share ideas and communicate directly with Ramat Gan.

To stress the importance of opening up the industry to new technologies, the event featured a presentation by guest speaker John Peters, COO of Jewelry.com, who spoke about the opportunities open to the industry through the communities of Web 2.0 to differentiate and effectively market diamond and jewelry products.

Source: http://www.idexonline.com/

Vinitaly, most important italian wine expo, ready to open

Business is served. Vinitaly, now at its 43rd edition (2-6 April 2009, www.vinitaly.com), confirms its international leadership year after year thanks to its capacity to create a system of initiatives and events that over time have transformed the exhibition of wines and spirits from a simple showcase into a network of contacts between trade operators.
Inasmuch, competitions, tastings, internet services for B2B meetings, seminars focusing on consumers and new markets and the huge trade offering (which also includes spirits) have seen the Exhibition successfully combine business with product promotion and company training.
This range of services has made Vinitaly the top exhibition in the world with more than 4,200 exhibitors from 35 countries and 157 thousand specialist visitors, of which more than 43 thousand from 110 countries.
Ever-growing demand by exhibitors is met this year by larger and optimised facilities, thanks not the least to the complete renovation of Hall 1, now fitted with 2,000 square metres of solar panels, which will be inaugurated precisely during Vinitaly. Nevertheless, the waiting list is still very long. There are many new entries this year, with important attendance even on an international scale.
Every edition also sees Vinitaly strengthen its synergy with Sol, Agrifood, Grappa Tasting and Enolitech to extend the perspectives of the sector by offering wine and extra virgin olive oil together with quality gastronomy products, top-of-the-range spirits, cellar and olive oil technology and accessories for tasting and table service.
The offering of services is sustained by the network of VeronaFiere delegates in the most important countries world-wide; while the Vinitaly World Tour - by now operative for more than a decade - has become an effective tool in improving the internationalisation of companies and the Made in Italy agro-foods system.
The World We Love is the concept that summarises the mission of Vinitaly 2009: wine first of all, but also quality, territory, the environment and its protection, people and human challenges.

The challenge of business. In 2008, more than 57 thousand operators, 42% of whom international, received direct invitations to attend the Vinitaly exhibition, with positive feedback better than 42%. More than 20 thousand buyers took part, out of total international attendance of 43 thousand from 110 countries (an increase of 25% for international operators). An important role in contacts between exhibitors and buyers is also played by the network of VeronaFiere delegates in 35 countries; the on-line Buyers’ Club attracted 882 companies and generated - even before the start of the exhibition - more than 1,100 contacts by international visitors.
In 2008, international operators included 49% wholesalers, importers/exporters and agents, as well as 35% in consumer sales sectors (large-scale distribution, retailers, horeca, etc.).

Focus and analysis. “Wine Tribes” is the title of the VeronaFiere survey this year - the natural continuation of analysis presented in recent years highlighting "wine lovers". Such analysis is necessary because not everyone who drinks wine belongs to the 'wine lover tribe' - and understanding related consumption preferences is now more important than ever before in defining sales strategies.
Interesting analysis and considerations equally emerge from the presentation of the results of the two-year research project titled “Wine Future” focusing on the competitiveness of Italian wine-making companies, presented in collaboration with L'Informatore Agrario.
Such information projects involving the most interesting international markets promoted by Vinitaly in recent years continue with focus events in the United States, Russia, China, Japan, India and again this year in Singapore, where the Vinitaly World Tour was held in 2001, and Scandinavian countries.
Environmental topics include an important appointment with the fifth International Conference specialising in sustainable wine-growing titled ”Winery waste and ecological impact management”, organised by the University of Verona with the support of VeronaFiere.

Tastings and business. Launched successfully for the first time in 2007, Taste Italy is an invitation-only initiative targetnig international operators with guided tastings available at all times. Direct experience of wines and company profiles help buyers to make direct contacts with producers on their stands during the event.
Tasting Ex...press, on the other hand, offers the best production world-wide presented by leading international sector magazines, while producers themselves present their products to journalists and buyers through Taste and Dream, dedicated to vertical tasting of excellence.
Trendy Today, Big Tomorrow, lastly, presents wines by emerging companies - selected by Luca Maroni - making their names on the market not only through quality but also thanks to interesting and competitive quality/price ratios.
A special focus on Welcome Back Brunello! The 2004 vintage - a travel through a great vintage for an equally great wine coordinated by Gambero Rosso. As well as Twelve Immortal Italian White Wines for Ageing, a tasting coordinated by Civiltà del Bere.

Tasting and charity for 150 years of Gaja. “There is no better way to celebrate this anniversary than at Vinitaly” with a guided tasting by Jancis Robinson, the well-known British wine writer. So said Angelo Gaja who celebrates with this unique appointment scheduled 4 April 150 years of wine-making dedication by his family, going back to the foundation of the Cellar at Barbaresco in 1859. Participation in the tasting - which certainly ranks as one of the main events of the year all over the world - is on payment and all proceeds will be donated to charity.

Wine and gastronomy. As the meeting point between wine, food and extra-virgin olive oil, Vinitaly, Sol and Agrifood Club organise - in collaboration with internationally famous chefs - gastronomic workshops and tastings of dishes prepared usnig the finest ingredients in the best tradition of Italian cuisine alongside a selection of wines on show. The Great Restaurants of Vinitaly (Designer Restaurant, Signori Restaurant, Sol Goloso and Citadel of Gastronomy) complete the exhibition menu to satisfy the wine and food curiosity of even the most demanding visitors and VIP guests attending the event.

Italy of Vinitaly. This is the Vinitaly internet area dedicated to the regions in order to present - well ahead of the events themselves and for the entire following period - regional territories and related olive oil-wine produce, promotional activities and even initiatives organised on stands during Vinitaly.
This privileged showcase ensures a complete panorama of the multitude of distinctive features characterising Italian regions and their unique status in the world.

Space for wine lovers. Vinitaly For You - the eagerly-awaited collateral event for non-professional enthusiasts - has established its role in recent years as a well-defined occasion belonging to Vinitaly but “outside” the event dedicated to trade operators as such. In short, it is held in Palazzo della Gran Guardia, in the historic heart of Verona. Wine bar coordinated by the National Women of Wine Association.

International competitions and awards for protagonists in the sector in turn focus on promotion of quality and products. Vinitaly has always been characterised by its efforts and incentives to improve the quality of wines. This policy is equally achieved through the competitions held every year to reward excellence. They include the International Wine Competition (25-29 March 2009, www.vinitaly.com/concorsoenologico, the most selective in the world with only 3% of awards made out of a total of 3,500 wines entered on average), the International Packaging Competition (11 March 2009, www.vinitaly.com/concorsoenologico), set up to reward companies in their efforts to create effective image for their products through bottles, labels, corks and caps, and the Vinitaly International Award that every year acknowledges businessman or operators in the sector (media, sommeliers, winemakers etc.) particularly distinguished by their activities on behalf of the sector.
Thanks to its selectivity, the International Wine Competition by now ranks as a kind of quality mark for award winners, for whom Vinitaly is the ideal showcase and place for commercial agreements and specific promotions, such as those in Germany and Japan.

Vinitaly World Tour. A proven formula that combines attractive participation costs for companies with effective contacts: workshops, seminars, wine tastings and Gala wine&food evenings are the main initiatives proposed in the most important cities in China, Japan, the USA, India and Russia. The World Tour turns Vinitaly into a year-long event and the main vehicle for commercial and cultural promotion of wine-growing and the Made in Italy agro-foods system throughout the world.
Operators in these countries by now view Vinitaly as a quality brand ensuring the status of the wines presented. Next stop-offs: 9-11 February 2009 Vinitaly US Tour – Miami; June, Vinitaly Russia, October the second stage of Vinitaly US Tour, November Vinitaly China and Vinitaly Japan.

Source: http://www.teatronaturale.com/

1st German American Energy Conference: Growing Ties in Renewable Energies Market

BERLIN, March 27, 2009 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ ----The sustainable energy supply is a key issue at the forefront of the German-American trade partnership. Despite the global recession, the renewable energies industry continues to project growth. The 1st German American Energy Conference will be held from March 30 to April 2, 2009 in Berlin to discuss the prospects of expanding the transatlantic sustainable energy partnership.

Germany, driven by the eastern federal states, is a global leader in renewable energies production, including photovoltaic, wind, and biofuels, while the United States is the world's largest energy consumer and has seen a dramatic growth of its renewable energies industry in recent years. Currently, President Obama's dedication to sustainable energy sources promises an even higher profile for the sector. Cooperation between these two industry giants has strong implications for the renewable energies industry worldwide.

To underscore the increasing cooperation, the 1st German American Energy Conference is the opening conference in a planned series of biennial meetings that will be held in rotation between the United States and Germany. The theme of this year's conference is "Renewable Energy Boom USA." Organized under the umbrella of the Transatlantic Climate Bridge project of the German Federal Foreign Office, partners include the Federation of German Industries (BDI: undefined, undefined, undefined%) and Germany Trade and Invest, as well as the German Energy Agency (DENA: undefined, undefined, undefined%) and the German American Chambers of Commerce (GACC: undefined, undefined, undefined%). Parliamentary State Secretary Ulrich Kasparick of the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs will be presenting on economic development through renewable energies, in which he will highlight the success story of eastern Germany.

Upward trends in this industry are expected to continue, as can be seen by the ongoing policy commitment in Germany, particularly in the renewable energy powerhouse region of eastern Germany. Renewable energies account for over EUR 30 billion in sales and 280,000 jobs in Germany, including 13,459 workers in photovoltaic in eastern Germany alone. The industry expects further investments in this sector to continue, despite the economic downturn.

The transatlantic partnership in this industry is expected to flourish. In a recent survey by the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham), Germany was the most attractive location in Europe for American investors. One of the primary reasons listed was Germany's ability to better withstand the global recession than other nations. The heavy investment in growth sectors like renewable energies is a major factor, as this industry continues to grow as others scale back.

Germany Trade and Invest will have industry experts present to answer questions and discuss opportunities to invest in Germany's renewable energies and resources industry as well as opportunities for German companies in the US. The conference, held at the Ludwig-Erhard-Haus in Berlin, hopes to further expand cooperation in this sector, with conference topics including the direction of the industry in both countries, business partnerships, and the future of the transatlantic energy dialogue.

Germany Trade & Invest is the foreign trade and inward investment promotion agency of the Federal Republic of Germany. The organization advises and supports foreign companies seeking to expand into the German market and assists companies established in Germany looking to enter foreign markets. All inquiries are treated confidentially.

Source: http://www.foxbusiness.com/

Himfr.com Analyzes China's Hardware Industry Development Trends for 2009

BEIJING, March 26, 2009 /PRNewswire-Asia via COMTEX/ ----Himfr.com, one of China's leading B2B search platforms with more than 30 B2B industry websites to its name, analyzes 2009 hardware industry development trends.

With the 2009 financial crisis, the hardware industry, as a basic industry, is also faced with opportunities and crises. How will hardware marketing, regional developments, and the hardware market in general respond in 2009?

According to analyst forecasts, by 2010, China's hardware manufacturing levels will be markedly improved, with some enterprises expected to reach the international advanced level. By 2020, China's hardware manufacturing sector overall will reach the international advanced level. Therefore, the metal products industry has great potential with broad market prospects.

In 2009, the new trend of regional hardware is to foster industrial clusters, forming regional development. At the location of industrial clusters, both at home and abroad, customers, distributors and suppliers are brought together. A variety of the latest market information, product information and technical information will also be available, which will be a source of innovation. Clusters within a variety of information exchanges become more frequent. In addition, competition within the cluster, as well as personnel exchanges between enterprises will also make enterprises put more emphasis on studying while also reducing the cost of study. They will be more prone to lead with a learning effect.

New trends in decorative hardware are ornamental and intelligent. In recent years, people's aesthetics have changed and requirements and standards have become higher for decorative hardware: pleasing in appearance with prominent personality. Decorative hardware trends are quietly changing. For example: the connection between the drawer's panel and it's next plate is quick-loading, thus making the time-consuming and laborious assembly of furniture and architecture into a building block game, saving time and labour. Some of the products favoured by the market use copper or stainless steel, nylon for the substrate to processing, chromium plating for surfaces, and Ti plating, nickel plating, zirconium plating and baking paint methods for decoration.

Hardware Products in 2009 will focus on intelligent designs suitable for all people. Adjustable hardware fittings will be popular. In addition, a number of intelligent products will also be popular, such as voice controlled furniture hardware (http://www.cheaponsale.com/buy-furniture_hardware/ ), making use of one's voice to close doors.

Source: http://www.foxbusiness.com/

Online Travel Marketing Conference Online Revealed Introduces B2B Expo to Agenda

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Canada's leading internet travel marketing conference has secured over 20 high profile industry experts from companies including Google, Marketwire, Travelzoo, T4G and many more, to participate in the first ever B2B Expo as part of the annual Online Revealed Conference, which will take place at the iconic Canadian destination of Niagara Falls this April 13-15, 2009.

The conference, which is being held at the Sheraton on the Falls Hotel and Conference Centre, has evolved a unique program focussed on educating and sharing best practices in marketing tourism online and has successfully joined a community of travel professionals and tourism suppliers to connect, share and educate about how to reach a consumer audience that is rapidly changing.

"The B2B expert is a unique opportunity for conference attendees to meet privately one on one for twenty minutes with up to nine travel and tourism industry suppliers of their choice to discuss their personal online marketing initiatives or concerns" said Edward Perry, Senior Director of E-Commerce, WorldHotels, and Co-Chair of the 2009 Online Revealed Conference. "We are thrilled to have experts to discuss topics from social media marketing to best practices of e-mail marketing, to how to best take advantage of the year of the travel deal - all available at the three hour Expo during the conference."

Online Revealed is attended by leading Canadian destination marketing organizations, provincial marketing organizations, hotel brands, franchise groups, independent hotels, attractions, marketing and tourism technology suppliers and beyond.

Interested suppliers can take advantage of this opportunity to take their place amongst travel industry icons Google, TripAdvisor, Travelzoo, TravelAlerts, T4G and QuickMobile, by visiting www.onlinerevealed.com.

Produced by A Couple of Chicks e-Marketing and RadonicRodgers Design+Marketing, the online travel marketing conference is expected to attract over 300 attendees who will hear about marketing destinations online, everything Google, social media marketing, maintaining your company reputation online, integrating online and offline spending and much more. Sponsorship opportunities are still available.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/

B2B Marketers Gain Big Results from Marketing Automation Solution

B2B marketers have always been eager to accelerate the sales cycle and help their companies win more deals. But as the economy slumps, companies are making substantial cuts in budgets and resources, leaving marketers needing to do more with less and still deliver value to the bottom line.

WorkForce Software is a leading manufacturer of complex policy and employee compliance management solutions. Its software automates interactions between an employer and its work force, resulting in lower payroll processing costs, compliance with state and federal regulations, and increased productivity and employee satisfaction.

The company's marketing department faced a unique challenge in that its prospects have widely varied business titles, ranging from chief financial officer to payroll director to VP of HR. Because similar job functions have different titles depending on the industry, WorkForce Software had trouble qualifying leads that entered the marketing queue through its Web site.

“After reviewing our lead generation process, we saw a huge gap in our knowledge about the readiness of our prospects in terms of budget, buying intention, business challenges and timeline," said Bob Gallagher, vice president of marketing, WorkForce Software. "Due to the nature of our products and the vastly different buyers we do business with, it was critical to get these prospects engaged with our marketing programs in order to start collecting the information needed to efficiently uncover a growing number of well-defined opportunities. We made a decision to look at marketing automation platforms to achieve this goal."

WorkForce Software reviewed five vendors before choosing Silverpop Engage B2B (formerly Vtrenz). "We had a great desire to work with a proven, mature vendor and Engage B2B had the ability to meet our business needs through automated marketing scenarios that could be executed without any special programming," Gallagher said.

Like so many other marketing operations these days, WorkForce Software's marketing team needed to:

* Collect demographic data from its leads
* Maintain ongoing contact with prospects identified as not yet ready to buy through a lead nurturing program
* Score leads to determine at what stage in the buying cycle each lead is at and move those deemed ready-to-buy to sales

Silverpop Engage B2B allowed WorkForce Software's marketing team to accomplish its goals quickly and effectively.

“Marketing has always been ROI-driven, but it has become even more so with the current economic issues companies are facing," said Bill Nussey, CEO of Silverpop. "Additionally, marketers are increasingly called upon to do more with less, and that is driving a growing interest in lead-management solutions with sound analytics and strong marketing-automation capabilities."

Within 60 days of implementing Silverpop Engage B2B, WorkForce Software was able to reengineer its lead qualification process to ensure incoming leads were providing valuable, self reported information that is ultimately turning into more sales opportunities. Through a combination of Engage B2B email campaigns and an increased investment in pay-per-click advertising, WorkForce Software experienced a 400 percent increase in the number of "Contact Us" and "Demonstration Request" leads coming in through its Web site.

"Now that we have put structure around how to identify quality leads, we can segment those leads by the information gathered during the lead qualification process," said Gallagher. “Sales only acts on qualified leads sent to them via the Salesforce.com integration, which is saving both time and valuable resources."

Source: http://www.crm2day.com/

Sellers in kolkata

A seller is a person who sells something in exchange of money. When we need to buy something it is a selling person or a company that we look for. We go the market or shops and ask the shopkeepers about the thing that we are looking for. If it is available we buy it and if it is not we ask other shopkeepers or sellers. For business concerns, selling is the ultimate mission. Manufacturing and trading companies their products, while service providers sell their services. But the higher authorities of companies do not involve themselves directly with the selling operations. They take their goods and services to the doorstep of customers through a group of people, whom we call sellers. For both general people and business concerns, finding out a seller or a group of sellers in a particular place is very important.

When you are looking for a product or service, which is available locally, finding out a seller is not a big deal. But what will you do if you are looking for a seller or a group of sellers who have operations in a completely different part of the world? How will you get to know about sellers of a particular product or service in a particular city of the world, if as a business-owner, you are eyeing an operation there? The process of searching and finding information has however become an effortless job these days, thanks to the rapid progress of information technology. Today information on everything in this world is easily available on the internet. One just needs to put his /her queries on the search engine and the rest is just a matter of seconds.

As far as searching for information related to business activities are concerned, the B2B portals (business-to-business) are the best option. Planned and designed specially to cater to the needs of business-class people, these B2B portals serve the purpose of guidebooks and yellow pages. Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal is among the largest and most well developed cities in India and a strong base of international commercial operations. The city has got a very strong trade relation with a number of reputed companies that are based in different other parts of the world. They earn huge revenue from the markets in Kolkata by selling their products through their agents.

As a company-owner you too might discover the markets in Kolkata as profit zone, but to bag revenue from here you need to know about the sellers in Kolkata, who deal with different types of products. The Kolkata-based B2B portals could be very useful guides for you here. The city-based B2B portals are loaded with lists of sellers in the city, who deal with a variety of goods and products.

Just as people all over the world search for sellers, the sellers too look for good buyers and enlist their names in these B2B portals so that people could get to know about them easily. Even if you are A seller is a person who sells something in exchange of money. When we need to buy something it is a selling person or a company that we look for.

Source: http://www.bignews.biz

Chile to Upgrade Business Ties With India

NEW DELHI - Chile said it wants to enhance its commercial ties with India by upgrading the preferential trade pact it has with New Delhi since 2006.

At a luncheon meeting with apex business chambers here, visiting Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said her country was keen on promoting the preferential trade pact with India to a full-fledged free trade agreement.

“The conditions have arrived to take step forward to increase our commercial links...I hope this will be a prelude to sign an FTA with India as soon as possible,” Bachelet said at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Assocham and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) meeting.

The two countries have agreed to take steps for doubling the bilateral trade, which was a mere $2.09 billion in 2007-08. Chile has decided to open a commercial and investment office here for facilitating commercial ties. Earlier in the day, the two countries signed four agreements to strengthen their bilateral ties in the areas of space, renewable energy, education and mineral resources.

Source: http://www.indiajournal.com/

South Africa hosts India business summit

DURBAN: The first Durban-India business summit was hosted here on Thursday to encourage trade and investment between the two countries.

The summit, at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre here, was hosted by Indian Consul-General Harsh Vardhan Shringla in partnership with the Durban Investment Promotion Agency, audit firm KPMG, the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Trade and Investment KZN.

Shringla said the aim of the summit was to reach out to companies that were not yet involved in business in India but which had the potential to engage with the subcontinent.

"South Africa is India's biggest investment destination in Africa. A bulk of the Indian investment, particularly in the manufacturing sector, is in KwaZulu-Natal," Shringla said.

Indian High Commissioner Rajiv Bhatia justified the summit in the current deepening global economic crisis, as he noted that both the Indian and South African economies have been affected negatively by the crisis, "even though perhaps we have not experienced its intensity as much as those in the developed world".

Noting that bilateral trade, which was valued at only $1.3 billion in 2000-01, had increased to $6.27 billion in 2007-08, a growth of 382 percent in seven years; Bhatia urged the delegates to focus on five key sectors - Manufacturing and Infrastructure, SMME & Skills Development, ICT & Services, Tourism & Entertainment and Maritime & Logistics.

"In fact, the basic thrust of this conference should be on studying in depth the investment climate, the factors that encourage the two-way flows and an identification of the existing constraints, which if removed, would see a much bigger progress in this area."

Bhatia highlighted two issues which could assist in easing business links - faster visa processes and the possibility of increased air links.

The high commissioner said the two governments had recently reached agreement on liberalising the civil aviation regime, thereby encouraging their carriers to put in place more flights on the basis of a multi-designation system.

"The challenge now is for their carriers to move forward into the implementation phase without delay."

Bhatia added that the South African authorities had shown their goodwill by liberalising their business visa regime, to a certain extent, thus encouraging Indian business people to visit South Africa more as their business needs grew in future.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Connectivity options: New portal slashes EDI/B2B onboarding costs; simplifies trading partner enablement

RollOut Portal—an online tool offered by Seeburger that facilitates self-serve onboarding and recertification of customers and suppliers to EDI/B2B systems operated by automakers, CPG companies, and other organizations—can be used with any B2B gateway. The portal virtually eliminates the cost, time, and effort required to connect new trading partners to the central hub, migrate existing partners to a new system, change partner configurations, and launch new roll-out campaigns.

According to industry estimates, manual trading partner enablement by a hub company’s IT staff takes 10 to 15 days and costs around $15,000 to $20,000 per partner. According to Seeburger, its RollOut Portal reduces the time frame to a few days and removes the company running the EDI/B2B system from the partner testing process entirely by automating all functions and providing step-by-step online instructions.

Customers and suppliers can self-test both the data structure of a given EDI/B2B message and the communications protocol being used to transmit the message—including AS2 and OFTP— simply by uploading the test message and pressing ‘Start Test.’ This allows partners to control the testing schedule and avoid IT bottlenecks on the sponsoring company’s side. Test results are delivered immediately with reports that pinpoint the cause of any testing failures.

If the hub company is using the Seeburger Business Integration Server (BIS) or other Seeburger solutions for EDI/B2B communications, a new Seeburger-exclusive Move2Production capability automatically puts successful RollOut Portal-tested messages into production without the time, expense and error risk of rekeying all information.

Companies that use Seeburger BIS or adapters also have access to connectivity options for trading partners of any size and technology infrastructure. Seeburger offers solutions for automating transaction document exchange via traditional EDI, a Hub & Spoke system that supports AS2-based point-to-point integration for partners that are too small or unwilling to be EDI-enabled, and a variety of Web-based options for smaller partners that still do business on paper.

Source: http://www.mbtmag.com/

IndustrialCOOP.com Introduces Its West Virginia Material Handling Equipment Directory

IndustrialCOOP, an industry-focused co-op search engine has launched a vertical materials handling equipment online buyers' guide and directory for companies based in or serving West Virginia.

Charleston, WV, March 20, 2009 --(PR.com)-- An international co-op industrial search engine IndustrialCOOP.com announced today the completion of its all new West Virginia Material Handling Products Buying Guide and Directory at http://arrivenews.com/?p=604. A correspondent for the company said the publication was created to help companies in West Virginia find local suppliers of conveyors, forklifts, hoppers and a wide range of other new and used material handling equipment.

According to Cindy Gomez, spokeswoman for IndustrialCOOP, a division of the online B2B publisher Industrial Leaders Group (ILG), the West Virginia Materials Handling Equipment Directory is designed as a value-added feature to the company's interactive Material Handling Equipment Marketplace at http://industrialsaver.com/classifieds/index.php/cat/9. Gomez said the directory along with the marketplace is utilized by MRO personnel, manufacturing managers, facility coordinators, stockroom personnel, shipping and warehouse managers and other buyers of material handling products.

"West Virginia companies in need of hoists, industrial trucks, drums, pallets, conveying equipment carousels and other material handling equipment can utilize the marketplace to locate manufacturers and distributors serving the mountain state," said Gomez. She added, IndustrialCOOP is dedicated in helping manufacturers and construction companies all over West Virginia find suitable local suppliers of material handing products." Gomez concluded, "Meanwhile suppliers of material handling products serving Charleston, Martinsburg, Weirton, Fairmont, Beckley, Morgantown, Parkersburg, Huntington, Clarksburg and other areas of West Virginia are all welcome to post offerings of their own on the marketplace and buying guide."

As a division of ILG, IndustrialCOOP also publishes several material handling equipment directories for North America, Europe and several Asian markets. The publications, according to Gomez, include special offerings from domestic and global manufacturers, exporters, dealers and authorized distributors of material handing, warehouse and storage products at:

* http://www.worldwideindustrialmarketplace.com/directory/material_handling_equipment.html (Worldwide New & Used Materials Handling Equipment Directory)

* http://www.foreigntradeexchange.com/suppliers/material_handling_equipment.html (Suppliers of Material Handling Products & Services)

* http://www.industrialleaders.com/listings/material_handling_equipment.html (The Online Material Handling Equipment Guide & Directory)

Source: http://www.pr.com/

Company to build warehouses in foreign-trade zone

Pittsburgh International Airport's efforts to develop its cargo business advances today when a Dallas-based developer breaks ground on warehouses in the foreign trade zone, officials said.

Trammell Crow Co. will announce its PIT International LogisticsCentre, a 90-acre industrial park where it plans to build as many as seven warehouses, said airport senior development director Randy Forister. He said he did not know if the company has secured tenants for the properties.

Officials at Trammell Crow's Cranberry office did not immediately return a call seeking comment. More details are expected during a 12:30 p.m. news conference at the airport's cargo facilities.

The site's location in a foreign trade zone means tenants could import goods to the warehouses, assemble or repackage them on site, and not pay tariffs until the finished goods are trucked to U.S. markets, Forister said.

Local officials in recent years have touted the possibility of bringing direct air cargo service from China to develop logistics jobs around the airport. Those efforts continue, Forister said.

"We also plan to continue outreach into European countries," home to many of the state's largest trading partners, he said.

The LogisticsCentre is adjacent to the airport's northern runway at its Northfield site. Dick's Sporting Goods also is building its headquarters there.

Source: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/

Foreign businesses attempt to share Vietnam’s e-commerce “pie”

VietNamNet Bridge – Foreign companies that have entered Vietnam to do e-commerce have many plans and they are waiting for suitable moments to conquer the market.

With over 20 million Internet users, most of them youth, Vietnam has emerged as an attractive destination for foreign e-commerce service providers.

eBay, a famous online shopping network, entered Vietnam last June through its cooperation with chodientu.com. This event marked a turning point when online shopping in Vietnam connected with eBay’s international system.

Yahoo! and Google have provided some specialized services for Vietnamese people. Yahoo! has opened Yahoo! Vietnam Co., Ltd. after over two years operating in Vietnam through a representative office.

Alibaba, the world’s leading business to business (B2B) e-commerce floor, has joined hands with Vinalink. Accordingly, Vinalink has the right to provide Alibaba services on its websites.

“Vietnam has many favourable opportunities to develop e-commerce,” said Vu Minh Tri, Director of Yahoo! Vietnam. Tri analyzed that developed countries have electronic payment systems so it is easy to develop e-commerce. However, the number of Internet users in these countries hasn’t increased in the past several years.

“Foreign businesses will invest in Vietnam through cooperation with potential local partners,” said Nguyen Hoa Binh, the representative of eBay in Vietnam. He anticipated that foreign firms will not do e-commerce themselves in Vietnam because they are afraid of risks.

“Yahoo! will seek a Vietnamese partner because this business mode is the most appropriate at present,” Tri said.

It is also very important for foreign investors to choose products for e-commerce in Vietnam. In a country like Vietnam, consumers can buy everything on the street and it is really difficult for online delivery.

E-commerce is developing in Vietnam but the legal corridor is still a problem for e-commerce. Vietnam still lacks laws on e-commerce, for instance regulations to control taxes on online transactions, the border between online service providers at home and abroad and the verification of prestige of companies doing online business.

“The core for developing e-commerce is changing awareness, man, and policy,” said the Vice chief of the E-commerce and IT Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Tran Huu Linh.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s report on Vietnam’s e-commerce in 2008, of 1,600 surveyed companies, 75% had over 5% of their total revenue come from e-commerce.

There are 49 schools offering e-commerce training courses but they are not assisted by state agencies. Most of the schools don’t have relationships with companies, which need e-commerce personnel.

The Vietnamese government plans to put all public administrative services online in the 2006-2010 period. The Ministry of Industry and Trade provided the electronic origin certificate granting service (eCoSys) online in 2008.

E-commerce models like B2B (business to business), B2C (business to customers), and C2C (customers to customers are expanding in Vietnam.

Source: http://english.vietnamnet.vn/

Buyers and sellers in Kolkata

Buying and selling are the two main parts of all business activities. All business concerns aim ate earning revenue from the sale of the products that they buy in finished form or in the form of raw materials from others at a lesser cost. They look for buyers and sellers and buyers simultaneously. Other than this, business concerns look for sellers through whom they can take their products and services at the doorsteps of customers. They look for markets and shops where they can supply their products for sale. On the other hand, before launching a product in the market, they make an idea about the market and buying capacity of the people of the area where they are planning the launch. It is also very essential for them to have a thorough idea about the level of demand for a particular product in a particular idea.

Not only business concerns but general people too look for sellers and buyers. A person who needs to buy a particular product or avail a particular service look for stores and companies where it is available. Suppose, you are planning to buy a television set or a personal computer. What would you do? You will surely look for shops and markets where electronic appliances are sold. Similarly if you want to sell something you will look for buyers.

Many people sell their own properties for different reasons. While some sell their properties to replace them with new ones and some do it to get rid of financial burden. Car tops the list of personal properties that are sold by people. If you have a car and planning to buy a new one, this is what you will surely do. But to get a good value for your beloved car you need to get a good buyer or customer. So what would you do? Publishing advertisements in newspapers is an age old practice which is still on but today one cannot depend on such ads as they come on newspapers pages weekly, fortnightly or monthly. Today people don’t have the time to wait and that’s why publishing advertisements in newspapers is a not the smartest thing to do. To get quick response for your advertisement you need to opt for a medium, which provides service 24 x 7 and is available in all parts of the globe. That’s internet.
On the internet, you will find hundreds of portals where advertisements on various subjects related to business are are published. If you want to publish advertisements for selling something that you possess, the B2B portals are the best mediums. B2B portals r the business-to-business portals are electronic business guides of the hi-tech age. All kinds of information that business-class people may have interest in are available on these portals in detail. Just log on to any B2B portal and you will find several categories from where you can acquire necessary data. If you want to sell something click on the ‘buyer’ category and a list of buyers will displayed on the monitor screen. Similarly if you looking for people who sell a particular kind of product or service, click on the seller category.

With the introduction of B2B portals, the process of communicating with people has become simpler. These B2B portals actually work like chains that keep different entities of business like buyers, sellers, wholesalers, dealers, retailers, manufacturers, suppliers and others in close contact. If buyers and sellers in a particular city are your searching subject then look for the city-based B2B portals. Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal is a large city and a major center for commercial operations. The city is home to hundreds of potential buyers and sellers of different goods, products and services. So if you want information on them, then opt for the Kolkata-based B2B portals. Lots of people engaged in various business activities enlist their names and profiles in the Kolkata-based B2B portals. Just log on to them and you will get long lists of buyers and sellers in Kolkata.

Source: http://www.bignews.biz/

Israeli Satellite In India's Service

Jerusalem — India has purchased a spy satellite manufactured by the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and plans to launch it into space in April.

The advanced satellite will help India defend itself against terror attacks of the kind that were carried out in Mumbai last November.

The news of the satellite purchase was reported by Indian sources, prompting reports in the Indian and international medias. According to the reports, India bought the satellite because of pressure from the Indian army following the Mumbai terror attacks.

India has spy satellites, but they are effective only during daylight conditions and are ineffective at night or under poor weather conditions.

The Indian NDTV station reported the Risat-2 satellite, which weighs 280 pounds, would be launched by an Indian Polaris rocket, which was also used to carry the Israeli Tecsar satellite into space last year.

All reports indicate that the new, advanced satellite is fitted with a special radar, capable of identifying targets on the ground, even in the dark, inclement weather and during sand storms.

The Indians charge the terrorists who committed the attacks in Mumbai arrived by boat from Pakistan, and an effective spy satellite would have allowed them to identify the boat long in advance.

India’s decision to buy an advanced spy satellite from Israel raises security links between Israel and India to a new level. This marks the first time that Israel has been reported to have exported a spy satellite.

The deal places IAI in a small and very select club of spy satellite manufacturers and exporters. The other spy satellite manufacturers, such as the United States and Russia, are not prepared to sell their satellites to foreign countries.

According to other security reports in India, IAI is currently developing a surface-to-air missile for India. It has also purchased unmanned aerial vehicles, and there are a number of other deals that are in advanced stages.


Source: http://thebulletin.us/

Ninetowns to Discontinue B2B Initiative and Refine Business Focus

BEIJING, March 20, 2009 /PRNewswire-Asia via COMTEX/ ----Ninetowns Internet Technology Group Company Limited (Nasdaq: NINE) ("Ninetowns" or the "Company"), one of China's leading providers of online solutions for international trade, today announced that it has undertaken a thorough review of its overall business-to-business ("B2B") strategy for international trade and has decided to discontinue its tootoo.com business. This decision was made in light of the recent major changes in the global economic environment and will enable Ninetowns to better manage its investments for long-term growth. The discontinuation of the B2B business is not expected to have a material financial impact on Ninetowns' other business solutions.

Tootoo.com was originally developed as a B2B search and service provider for suppliers and buyers engaged in international trade and was not fully commercialized as of the end of 2008. Ninetowns expects to begin winding down all services and support for tootoo.com within approximately 60 days and plans to eventually discontinue tootoo.com's B2B service offering. Ninetowns intends to re-assign existing tootoo.com personnel consisting of approximately 50 employees to other functions within Ninetowns.

As a result of this decision, Ninetowns expects to record a one-time non- cash impairment charge of approximately RMB115 million against its long-lived assets and goodwill. Ninetowns is now in the process of finalizing the impairment charge with its advisors, including an independent third-party valuation specialist. Ninetowns does not expect the non-cash impairment charge to have an adverse impact on its current cash position, current cash flows from operating activities, or future cash expenditures.

"We carefully assessed the long-term impact of continuing our B2B business and have determined that the time and investment required for further support is not in the best interests of the Company or its shareholders given the uncertain global economic environment," stated Mr. Shuang Wang, Ninetowns' Chief Executive Officer. "In particular, the continuing deterioration of the global economy has had a severe effect on China's import/export trade sector and will greatly prolong our investment horizon if we continue to operate tootoo.com. The anticipated cost reductions from this decision will better position us to explore other growth opportunities in both the domestic market and the international trade market as well as to drive improved financial performance. We remain focused on maintaining our business-to-government ("B2G") market leadership, while leveraging our quality management expertise and experience to expand into other potential opportunities. Our long-term goal is to continue to strengthen and expand our risk control and quality management systems into various industries. Our unique quality control system, which ensures transparent supply chain processing from sourcing to final delivery, is our core competitive advantage and will enable us to deliver long-term shareholder value. "

Mr. Tommy Fork, Ninetowns' Chief Financial Officer, commented, "This was a difficult decision, but we feel it is the correct path to narrow our strategic focus to areas where we can drive maximum return on investment, while conserving the Company's cash in order to maintain a sound financial position under the current economic environment. As of the end of fiscal year 2008, our balance sheet remains solid with estimated cash and cash equivalent of RMB605 million and no debt. The discontinuation of our B2B business will reduce significant future cash outlays, further strengthen our balance sheet, and enable us to have the flexibility to re-direct these financial resources to other potential long-term growth opportunities."

Source: http://www.foxbusiness.com/

Kerala sellers meet buyers

CHENNAI: It was not just an evening to showcase Kerala’s art forms but also promote its tourism.

"We call the event a partnership meet, where sellers of Kerala meet the buyers. Around 44 trade partners had B2B meets with 140 buyers. They briefed the buyers (tour operators) about the schemes and packages," said Satheesh K N, additional director (general), Department of Kerala Tourism.

He added that they had already conducted the meet in Bangalore, where 58 sellers participated. What followed after the meet was a cultural programme. Kerala’s art forms Mohiniyattam, Thiruvathirakali, Kathakali and the marital art form Kalaripayattu were showcased.

A statistical detail says, 5, 98, 929 foreign tourists visited Kerala in 2008, up 80,000 from the previous year.

The most important visitors are from the UK, followed by France and Germany.

Kerala Tourism together with the Kerala trade is focusing its efforts on the domestic market. Consumers can expect some great deals and value-for-money. Kerala holiday packages, branded under the Dream Season Campaign. Attractive schemes and packages by hoteliers, travel agents and tour operators will be unveiled to woo domestic travelers in a big way.

In a move to make the holiday destination even more attractive and accessible for the domestic market, Kerala Tourism will soon announce a tie-up with one of the country's leading airlines.

Source: http://www.expressbuzz.com/

Seafood exporters join in Boston expo

HA NOI — Vietnamese seafood exporters have joined in the three-day International Seafood Show in Boston, ending today.

At the annual show, 26 members of the Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) diplayed their products and information in a 250sq.m stall at the exposition.

Participating in the show was a chance for Vietnamese seafood exporters to find trading partners in the US and throughout North America and get updated market information, VASEP said. The show was part of a key national trade promotion programme to help seafood exporters develop new markets.

Other elements of the programme include the Japan International Seafood and Technology Expo in Tokyo in July, Gulfood 2009 in the United Arab Emirates in February, and the European Seafood Exposition in Brussels in April.

The US imported US$761 million worth of Vietnamese seafood last year, according to the US Department of Commerce, making seafood Viet Nam’s fourth leading source of export value in the US, following garments, wood products and footwear.

Viet Nam is one of the top 10 seafood exporters in the world, earning $4.5 billion last year from seafood exports, with the US, the EU, Japan and South Korea accounting for half of seafood export value.

The International Seafood Show in Boston is North America’s largest seafood exhibition and one of largest in the world, attracting up to 18,000 buyers and sellers from 90 countries and territories. — VNS

Source: http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/

India may have surplus vegetable oil on higher import

New Delhi (PTI): India's import of vegetable oil may increase to 70 lakh tonnes in the oil year starting November 2008 mainly because of zero duty, even as the country is estimated to have produced oil higher than in the previous year.

Addressing a press conference here on Friday, Central Organisation of Oil Industry and Trade (COOIT) president Davish Jain said the import would be over 70 lakh tonnes as against the domestic requirement of 130-135 lakh tonnes.

Since the domestic production of edible oil is expected to be higher at 85-90 lakh tonnes, there will be at least 20 lakh tonnes of surplus oil in the country, he added.

He also pointed out that the announcement of zero import duty on crude soyabean oil is not warranted at this juncture when prices of edible oils are already low.

The Association said that cheaper imports would bring down the domestic prices of mustard with the new crop to hit the market soon.

The overall imports between November 2008 and February this year have gone up by 68 per cent to 29.51 lakh tonnes, compared with 17.61 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period.

The country imports palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia, and soya oil from Brazil and Argentina.

Source: http://www.hindu.com/

Cairo carpet maker sees free trade unravel

Reporting from Cairo -- As whispers of protectionism began to unsettle the export-import business, Oriental Weavers, one of the world's largest carpet makers, reset its looms and recast its prices to compete in an increasingly bargain-conscious U.S. market.

The Cairo-based company fared relatively well over an 18-month period as the U.S. housing crisis spread and oil prices soared. But its sales to America have since slipped, forcing it to look toward emerging markets in Asia and former Soviet republics. This comes as rising protectionist sentiments in Washington and Europe have added new pressure to the already strained international textile industry.

"The margins are shrinking. Everyone is worried," said Farida Khamis, vice president for corporate finance at Oriental Weavers. "Our fear is global spending will shrink more and more."

Cheap labor and tax breaks have helped Oriental Weavers endure the downturn even as four of its main competitors, including companies in Turkey and Belgium, have gone bankrupt since January. Open markets and globalization are being squeezed by national interests, which can mean bad tidings for poor, labor-intensive nations such as Egypt, a major textile exporter for decades.

The pressure was articulated by Mohamed Qassem, chairman of World Trading Co., a textile corporation based in Cairo, who recently pressed Egypt for more help to deal with a protectionist mood in India, where the government has cut interest rates and is investing $4 billion in textile and garment industries.

Similar pleas have echoed across other developing countries, which have emphasized to the Obama administration the need for free trade to reverse the United States' economic fortunes.

It's been a sobering time amid the whoosh-click of the looms and thick spools of wool from New Zealand and Libya. Oriental Weavers, a family-controlled company that supplies IKEA and had a contract to carpet the Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas, watched exports drop to 60% of its total sales in 2008 from 67% in 2007. To compensate, it increased sales at home by targeting resorts and the upper-middle-class suburbs burgeoning outside Cairo; it recently announced price cuts of as much as 15% to improve its hand in the U.S.

"We have to keep on reinventing," Khamis said.

The recent decline in oil prices allowed Oriental Weavers to reduce its prices, but it nonetheless encounters obstacles in the U.S. as politicians and unions call for protectionism as a means to prevent the loss of tens of thousands of American jobs. The company, which has plants in the U.S. and China, is accustomed to looking for niches, including modestly priced nylon carpets that resemble Iranian silk.

"We've hedged and diversified," Khamis said. "We don't want to have all our eggs in one basket."

Source: http://www.latimes.com/

eBay Is Open to Talks with Alibaba

Despite past tensions between eBay and Alibaba under former CEO Meg Whitman when the two companies waged war in China, eBay's new CEO John Donahoe is open to partnerships with the company according to Bloomberg. Alibaba's founder and Chairman Jack Ma has been in the United States for the past 2 weeks with top executives on a team-building exercise. While here, he has met with eBay, Amazon.com, Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, Apple, Starbucks, and GE to discuss possible partnerships.

Ma spoke before the Asia Society in New York City on Thursday (link), and said he wants to enter the U.S., but not to compete.

eBay PowerSellers use Alibaba.com to acquire inventory from all over the world to sell online. In China, Alibaba operates a C2C marketplace, online payment service and other business services in addition to its B2B global marketplace.

While previous trips to Silicon Valley had inspired Ma because of the hard work he observed, he was surprised that most companies today are in a very depressed mood. He said there was a focus on money, with engineers talking about products that could make money, not about how the products could change the world. "I was a little bit disappointed," he said.

Ma talked about his experience in building Alibaba from a small team in Hangzhou and building it into a company of 12,000 employees, with plans to hire an additional 5,000 this year. He said that at Alibaba, the customer is number one, employees are number two, and shareholder are number three. (The customers pay you, the employees stay with you, but the shareholders - "they are all gone when disaster comes.")

English-teacher turned entrepreneur and business leader, Jack Ma is known for his motivational public-speaking. Yesterday, he donned a sweater in classic Bill Gates style.

Ma spoke about the global economic crisis. People should not to wait for the government to take action, he warned. For years at world economic forums in Davos, people have spoken about social responsibility. "It's time to take action. Social responsibility is not a slogan. Bury it into the business model. Not only care for yourself, care for employees, the customer, the environment. Take action, put it into reality, into action."

The man who beat eBay in China said he values hard work over MBAs. "Everything (MBAs) say is right, but everything they do is terrible."

Of the companies he met with, Ma seemed most impressed with Starbucks.

Source: http://www.auctionbytes.com/