MHmobile is an optimized user interface that enables travellers to book flights and access up to date travel information while on the move. In a world’s first, MHkiosk employs touch-screen technology, and is equipped with passport and card readers for instant passenger recognition, and print 2D barcode boarding passes.

The introduction of the MHkiosk follows Jetstar’s recent debut as the first airline to use iPads as in-flight entertainment on their aircrafts. Jetstar Airways is a low-cost subsidiary of Qantas, the national airline of Australia.

MD/CEO of the MAS, Tengku Datuk Azmil Zahruddin claimed that there was huge interest in the iPad MHkiosks as it was so simple and user-friendly; and he later added that the MAS had plans of introducing more such kiosks depending up on the success. As part of the promotion, the customers using the newly launched kiosks will get a waiver on the administrative fee for travel during the six-month pilot project period.

The kiosks is understood to eliminate admin charges since the ticketing process is electronically managed allowing the customers to select their itineraries, credit card payments, confirmation via SMS and email sans printing material. “It will mean better queue management at our ticket offices during peak hours when customers can be re-directed to ‘stand-alone’ iPad MHkiosks,” said Zahruddin.

Toboc Trade News

In 2007, Bush administration began negotiations on ACTA particularly to contain several developing countries engaged in piracy acts, and to protect the interests of leading US firms which lost their price competitiveness on account of counterfeiting. Incidentally, the ACTA effect will not be restricted to internet activities alone but extends to counterfeit pharmaceuticals, designer merchandise, music, movies, etc.

Surprisingly, the final draft will not have the endorsement of China, one of the largest counterfeit producers. Hence, looking back to past events on taking action against China in regards to infringements, the trade pact is expected to encounter similar stalemate while implementing a likely ratified deal. Participants in the negotiations included Australia, Canada, the European Union, represented by the European Commission, the European Union Presidency (Spain) and EU Member States, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland and the US.

Many ACTA dissidents blame the secretive or undemocratic nature of reaching the agreement by not revealing the details for public discussion. On the other hand, WIPO provides scope for public scrutiny with an added advantage of the inclusion of major counterfeiting countries in negotiations.

Meanwhile, the tech firms are understood to be apprehensive about ACTA’s secondary liability clause, which recommends the responsibility of copyright infringement behaviour of the user on the online service provider. The clause will possibly affect social networking sites, video-sharing sites and several other user-generated content sites including the online encyclopaedia, Wikipedia.

Last month, a statement signed by senior trade-union officials from New Zealand, Australia, Singapore and the US raised the question of intellectual property rights becoming an element in the free-trade negotiations. However that fear is put to rest by officials at the eighth round of ACTA negotiations calling the deal as a ‘standalone’ one, and would not tinker with FTAs.

According to sources, the draft will leave out three-strikes provision that would require border agents to search the contents of electronic devices. Experts term three-strikes a preposterous idea as it would virtually bring every transit cell to a standstill.

Toboc Trade News

It has been reported that a large number of torture instruments including fixed wall restraints, metal ‘thumb cuffs’, and electroshock ‘sleeves’ and ‘cuffs’ which could deliver 50,000V shocks were widely traded with the tacit or explicit backing from some governments of the EU. Furthermore, these commercial exchanges have violated the 2006 Act of a global ban on the international trade of policing and security equipment designed for torture and ill-treatment.

According to the Amnesty International’s press release, the organization along with its research partner would be informing the EU administration to insulate legislative loopholes highlighted in the report, and the EU member states to adequately implement and enforce the regulation. Amnesty International’s UK arms program director Oliver Sprague lambasted the EU for condoning the sales of inhumane torture equipment, and also for using double standards in trade deals.

Interestingly, the accomplices in this illegal trade have flouted with impunity the Regulation that has been introduced after a decade of campaigning by human rights organizations. Nicolas Beger, Director of Amnesty International’s EU office blamed the EU for the failure of proper implementation or enforcement of the four year old legislation.

As per the report, between 2006 and 2009, the Czech Republic issued export licenses covering shackles, electric shock weapons and chemical sprays to six countries where police and security forces had a history of using such equipment for torture and other ill-treatment. Likewise, Germany issued similar licenses to three such countries for exports of foot-chains and chemical sprays.

Besides, law enforcement equipment suppliers in Italy and Spain are found to have encouraged the sale 50,000V electric shock ‘cuffs’ or ‘sleeves’ for use on prisoners by exploiting a legal loophole. In 2005 one of the EU member states, Hungary declared its intention to introduce electric ‘stun belts’ into its own prisons and police stations, despite a trade ban on such belts which inherently constituted torture or ill-treatment.

Surprisingly, five EU member states have expressed that they were unaware of any producers (Belgium, Cyprus, Italy, Finland and Malta) or exporters (Belgium, Cyprus, Italy) of equipment covered under the Regulation. However, it is interesting to note that companies from three of these five countries (Finland, Italy and Belgium) have stated openly in media interviews or on their websites that they supplied items which were covered by the Regulation, often manufactured in third countries.

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The US government is understood to have responded to the call by Google to include Internet Access Freedom (IAF) as an international trade policy of the country. Nicole Wong, Google Vice President and Deputy General Counsel had urged earlier an open internet should be part of the US trade agenda as economic impact of censorship was huge on e-commerce as well as other companies which used Web services.

In January, Google.cn, the China version of the Google search engine announced it was considering pulling out of China after its portal along with some other 20 tech companies including Adobe, Yahoo and Intel was attacked by allegedly state-sponsored hackers. Though China has denied any such interception, but some companies who were victims of these attacks claim they have ample evidence to prove the government’s hand in this deplorable crime.

Google felt betrayed by the attacks, which resulted in the firm losing some intellectual property, despite compromising on internet freedom during the time of launch by signing an agreement with China in 2006. Under the controversial bargain, Google agreed to censor search results by prompting the users at the bottom of censored pages that results were withheld at the request of the Chinese government.

However, approaching the WTO to settle the issues related to the Chinese internet policies does not ensure any speedy outcome as trade disputes before the global trade body normally takes two or more years to litigate and appeal. Incidentally, according to the China Internet Network Information Center, a government agency that registers online domain names, China is the world’s biggest Internet market, with 384mn Web users at the end of 2009.

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According to Emirates Business24/7, the companies such as Gemalto, Fundamo, mBlox and the Western Union are keen on tying up with the mobile service providers to cash in on the new market. The primary focus of these companies would be to extend services along with the GCC member states to countries including India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Yemen, Iran, Afghanistan and Syria, and some countries in Africa and Latin America.

Gemalto, one of the largest in the mobile payments solutions segment, is already working with du and etisalat. Pascal Oromi, VP for mobile financial services at Gemalto said currently, one third of Gemalto’s revenue came from the Middle East, and was expected to grow significantly in 2010.

Likewise, Fundamo, another player in this space who was unsuccessful at previous occasions for tenders in the UAE is understood to be positive on another shy. Richard Bailey, Product Manager at Fundamo pointed out that mobile money provided a ready access to migrants who still did not have access to traditional banking services by offering banks an opportunity to reach out to the unbanked.

As per latest reports, the Western Union has roped in Comviva Technologies, one of India’s largest providers of VAS to mobile operators to its Mobile Vendor Program for servicing mobile finance initiatives across the globe. Khalid Fellahi, Senior VP, Mobile Transaction Services of the Western Union, informed the technology had been a success in Kenya and Philippines, and an announcement on its mobile wallet plans in the Middle East was awaited soon.

Whereas, Andrew Bud, Executive Chairman at Sweden based mBlox said the high mobile penetration and also lack of banking infrastructure in some areas make it a top area for mBlox. The company plans to operate from Mumbai in India to cater the needs of the Middle East.

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Consequently, several Latin American and Asian countries will be importing more rice to offset the resulting shortage. The South American countries such as Brazil, Venezuela, Columbia and Panama and the Asian countries like India and the Philippines are understood to have increased their import quotas as El Nino effect is likely to last till June.

The US Rice Producers Association President Dwight Roberts told Bloomberg that Brazil may start buying this month, a total of 1mn metric tons throughout the year, direct fallout of El Nino. In another statement, the Agriculture Undersecretary of the Philippines Bernardo Fondevilla said his country, the world’s biggest rice buyer could lose more than 0.8mn tons of paddy rice, from a severe dry spell caused by El Nino triggering renewed rice imports.

Brazil would be importing from Vietnam, the largest rice exporter behind Thailand after the latter fulfills its November and December tenders from the Philippines. As per the Philippines National Food Authority figures, the delivery of four tender amounting to 2.25mn tons mostly from Vietnam would start from January to June.

The Filipino government has set aside about $37mn to mitigate the impact of El Nino on crop and fishery production this year. The phenomenon is expected to devastate 453,204 hectares of rice, 227,843 hectares of corn fields and 14,160 hectares of the fishery industry in the Philippines alone.

Robert on a rice update to Bloomberg informed that Iraq, the fifth largest rice importer, might buy at least 120,000 tons by next week. El Nino effect is likely to peak this month causing speculative buying in the global rice market.

Robert told that the apparent decline in Mercosur production and increased demand in the South American and other Central American countries, supplies will be tight and some markets could pay considerably higher prices for imported rice. The data on rice stockpiles and production trickling in from almost all regions across the globe indicate world rice market is in for severe price rice which in a worst case scenario could even reach the all time high of 2008.

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According to sources, the department responsible for business registration and regulation of China is likely to charge a registration fee between $15 and $30 depending upon the area of business. Similarly, sales tax of 3 percent will be charged on total online sales.

Though Beijing province promulgated similar registration and taxation process back in 2008 none of the online firms got enrolled in the program till date due to non-enforcement of the rule. An official of the Beijing Bureau of Industry and Commerce, Wu Song stated that all internet business entities should be in accordance with any other businesses in the country.

However, there was no confirmation on how the department would tackle those who infringe on the law. It is been assumed that the penalties would range from onsite warning that could damage the reputation of the firm to complete shutting down of the access to the respective perpetrator’s portal.

A recent release by an online marketing research firm, iResearch says that the online revenue generated in the country from advertising, games and shopping totaled about $11bn last year, up by 30 percent. Besides, the company is upbeat on the prospect of online revenue generation to grow by 51 percent to reach $16.5bn this fiscal.

On the flipside, some fear that the new regulation on e-tailers would hamper the industry’s stupendous growth as startup cost and prices of the merchandise on offer would rise significantly. Currently, online stores offer lower prices than the physical ones.

Nevertheless, another school of thought feel the new regulation would substantially reduce online frauds, and would rather streamline the industry. Online stores have negligible or no inventory cost, and therefore, they are able to offer products for lower prices as compared to its brick and mortar counterparts.

The figures from the Beijing Bureau of Industry and Commerce show that around 4,700 complaints on e-tailers were investigated in Beijing alone in 2009, with 1,067 prosecuted. The county which has close to 400mn internet users has today more than 1mn online stores to shop from.

Lately, China has taken several initiatives to regulate internet activities including alleged disinformation campaigns; and the new proposal is largely designed to protect consumer rights. According to China Internet Network Information Center, combined retail sales amounted to only about 2 percent of total retail sales of consumer goods in 2009, and the online retail sales grew 94 percent in the year to total $36.6bn.

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Chavez during a political rally on Saturday apprised that the leaders would meet on Monday in Caracas to further shape an extraordinary project” on a currency that will “break the dependency on the dollar, its economic and financial colonialism.

The currency called Sucre was named after Jose Antonio de Sucre who fought for independence from Spain alongside the Venezuelan hero Simon Bolivar in the early 19th century. The currency is expected to initially function as an electronic instrument before it is made to a paper format.

The Sucre is likely to be in circulation as the ECU, which was a forerunner to the euro. Then, the ECU was operational as an account unit managing the stable exchange rates between member states before the national currencies were assimilated to the euro.

Since the signing of MOU on the Latin American currency last year, Chavez has repeatedly urged his member states to cut down foreign reserves in the form of the US dollars. Most South American countries stored their reserves in the US dollars, and for the past several years the socialist states of the region wanted to detach them from the US domination in regional trade. The growing influence of China in the region has also compels the left countries seeking new ways to store cash.

The ALBA comprises of Venezuela, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Dominica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Antigua and Barbuda. The ALBA was founded in 2004 by Venezuela and Cuba as a counterweight to the Free Trade Area of the Americas that the US and some Latin American nations were proposing at the time.

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The ITC is the technical cooperation agency of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). It largely helps businesses across the world to interpret the WTO rules and also to develop strategies for businesses to enhance trade.

The online guide is a reference source that contains pragmatic and operational information on the international cotton market. The objective is to provide all those engaged in producing and exporting cotton to be knowledgeable about the nuances of the international cotton trade.

Ms. Patricia R. Francis, ITC’s Executive Director said, “Our aim is to reach out to cotton stakeholders around the world and stimulate cotton trade, especially in the poorest African countries.” While Matthias Knappe, ITC’s Program Manager for Cotton, Textiles and Clothing remarked the completion of the online version of the Cotton Exporter’s Guide was an important step in further enhancing its capacity-building activities in cotton trading and marketing.

The development of the Cotton Exporter’s Guide, including its on-line version, was funded by the
Government of Denmark. It is available in English, French and Spanish at these web addresses:
http://www.cottonguide.org/ http://www.guidedecoton.org/ http://www.guiadealgodon.org/

As per the guide, it is targeting all cotton producers, ginners, exporters and traders in cotton producing developing countries, particularly in Africa. It also offers an overview on the world cotton market (production, consumption and trade), analysis of factors influencing supply and demand, market trends and major issues affecting the industry, including trade policy and the WTO issues.

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The e-commerce retail sales showed gradual improvement from quarter to quarter since the beginning of 2009, though the third quarter results marked the first advancement over last year’s results. The e-tailers suffered a dramatic slide in sales in the fourth quarter of 2008 at 5.6 percent in comparison to the previous year, including the holiday shopping season owing to the onset of economic downturn in the said period.

On the contrary, the e-commerce gain inflicted losses to brick and mortar retailers particularly on the East Coast. Scott Bernhardt, CEO of Planalytics, which provides weather forecasts to businesses, said that retailers’ losses were estimated at about $2bn in sales. John Squire, chief strategy officer for Coremetrics, a Web analytics provider, observed that last-minute shoppers on the East Coast who had intended to hit the malls this weekend really had no option but to shop online.

Squire opined that typically, e-commerce sales dropped off during the weekend before Christmas because consumers were worried that their orders might not arrive in time. He added that but online retailers made a strong push this year to guarantee delivery dates, and increased promotions.

According to comScore, the week that ended Sunday, Dec. 20 boosted online spending by 6 percent, a new high in e-tail history to eclipse the record set just two weeks ago. The sales for the week ended Dec. 20 totaled $4.803bn as compared to $4.532bn of last year, and the weekend sales came in at $767mn up 13 percent from $677mn of last year.

The chairman of comScore said consumers had clearly continued to spend online later into the season this year, with several very strong spending days in the most recent week including the heaviest online spending day in history—Tuesday, Dec. 15 with $913mn. The comScore’s online sales data published for the first 50 days of the holiday season between Nov. 1 and Dec. 20 revealed the sales were up by 4 percent to reach $25.524bn from the previous year.

Amazon, Walmart, Apple.com and Best Buy were identified as the major e-commerce portals which made hay while the sun was not shining. The e-commerce industry hopes to have a better fourth quarter showing in the data which will be released by the US Census Bureau- Department of Commerce on February 16, 2010.

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The UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) enacted a law in 1989 to ban the trade of elephant tusks after finding the pachyderms being killed at an alarming rate. James Isiche of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), Kenya in response to a Washington Post article stated that the ban was followed after ivory poaching slashed Africa’s elephant population from more than 1.2mn to about 450,000 in 10 years’ time.

Several conservationists feel that the intense poaching is occurring owing to several factors including high demand for ivory from the cash-rich Chinese consumers and poor enforcement of law by many backward countries of the African continent. The recent ivory auction, a special permission reserved to those countries which manage their elephant population well, bear witness to the fact that major chunk of the auctioned ivory is bought by China.

John Frederick Walker, an expert on ivory trade practises in a Washington Post article opined that a tightly controlled but steady stream of legal ivory from countries with protected herds, coupled with strict policing of domestic African ivory markets, may sound like an unholy coupling of conservation policies — but it just might work. But in a response letter to this article Isiche said the only way to save the world’s remaining elephants was to eliminate the global ivory trade, legal and illegal.

However, the growing concern over the survival of elephants has prompted eBay, the largest internet auction site to ban the sale of ivory; it will take effect from 1 Jan of 2010. The IFAW tracked more than 7,000 wildlife product listings on 183 web sites in 11 countries and discovered elephant ivory accounted for 73 percent of the trade.

The IFAW findings are a wakeup call to all trade portals to respect and participate in the process of stopping illegal ivory trade. Robbie Marsland of IFAW, UK, in an interview to the Telegraph, urged there was no doubt left that all internet dealers needed to take responsibility for their impact on endangered species by enacting and enforcing a ban on all online wildlife trade.

IFAW has now appealed to the CITES and the trade portals to evolve a comprehensive strategy to counter the killings of elephants across the world. Action such as, enacting robust domestic legislation on internet wildlife trade, implementing and empowering effective enforcement, public awareness campaigns and devising new ways to monitor and curtail the online trade in endangered wildlife were recommended. The CITES conference in Doha, Qatar, in March is expected to take these proposals seriously to give a logical effect.

Toboc Trade News

About 90 countries use ASYCUDA software and the Palestinian Customs has become one among the 10 Customs administrations in the world that has adopted the third generation and latest version called ASYCUDA WORLD. The Customs’ application that is known as TAWASOL in Palestine is expected to enhance the Palestinian capability for risk management, post-auditing, reduction of fraud and smuggling, and the generation of data to inform public policy and increase customs and tax revenues.

The new system that makes the whole trade process in an electronic single-window and single-file system, in line with international standards and the rules of the World Customs Organization is likely to benefit the exporters and importers of Palestine immensely. Besides, the Palestinian customs clearance agents and private companies engaged in international trade are able to complete all processes through on-line, without visiting the customs offices.

The Palestinian Customs modernization ceremony was attended by Palestinian Authority Prime Minster and Minister of Finance, Salam Fayyad, Christian Berger, the representative of the European Commission (EC) and representatives of the UNCTAD. The e-transformation of the Palestinian Customs is the result of its partnership with the UNCTAD and the EC.

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According to Yonhap News, the government has plans to link its trading countries electronically with Korean business houses to streamline the whole trading process to cut costs and boost competitiveness. Thus the up-gradation of the present pan-national e-trade infrastructure is expected to provide faster and efficient services to its trading nations as well as its own exim firms. Towards this the government would set aside about $2.3mn every year to support the project along with its venture partner, the Korea International Trade Association (KITA).

The uTradeHub is the final product of a joint venture by the South Korean Ministry of Knowledge Economy and the KITA. It is developed and designated to be operated by KTNET, a leading e-company of Korea that has specialised in electronic trade services.

As part of transforming the cumbersome conventional trade practices to e-trade, the Korean government had enacted a policy way back in 2001 in this regard, and as a result today the majority of Korean companies have radically departed from paper-based trading system. Today, the Korean e-commerce formula is not only regarded as the best but also has been adopted by several countries.

South Korea is the pioneer in the field of e-commerce, and is the first in the world to open an e-L/C service in 2005. Linking up of the uTradeHub system with its trading overseas partners is likely to help the country’s ambitious goal of making Korea the global e-trade hub of the world.

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Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) is the technology that allows user to navigate the internet wireless. It is a telecommunication technology that can carry data to long distances either by point to point links or full mobile access. The key feature of this technology is that it operates on the same Broadband Wireless Access Standard of IEEE 802.16, which was set up in 1999. WiMAX also has the ability to extend local Wi-Fi networks over larger expanse of coverage area by up to 50 kilometers and its backed by Intel, world’s largest semiconductor company.

Similarly, High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) too boasts of superior technology akin to that of WiMAX. In a nutshell, it is a collection of mobile telephony protocols that provide better performance over existing radio bandwidth. Equipped with state of the art 3.5G technology, it can touch amazing download speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps. HSPA should be proud to get the support from leading equipment vendors including Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Networks, Nortel, Alcatel and Lucent. Its proven ability to perform extremely well in any condition and download speeds has helped the technology to be absorbed across several countries in a short span of time.

Unfortunately, WiMAX was not without its own problems, in Australia, first WiMAX operator had to shut down its operation due to poor reach to long distances, contrary to its claim. On the other hand, HSPA service was able to produce the desire result in over 50 countries and 150 networks. For example, in some places subscribers could already watch streaming High Definition movies at 1Mbps. HSPA has also got a cost advantage over the other, per month charges as of now is in the realm of $30, whereas one has to shell out $10 more to get the same service from WiMAX.

Since majority of the people spend time outside their workplaces, e-mobility has become an inevitable tool in communication and business. Whether the winner is WiMAX or HSPA, wider expanse of area under internet connectivity through wireless services will enhance people to do day to day business, being anywhere in the world. High speed internet access through wireless technology will propel growth in all areas including business, education and healthcare.

Global internet wireless connectivity will also give an advantage for an entrepreneur who is away from the main markets to get reasonable remuneration for one’s products or services. Real time e-mobility effects coupled with long distance internet coverage for one’s communication suggests, E-Commerce will be the biggest gainer and is likely to increase its share in the world of business.

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1. As a rule of thumb, it is inevitable that one should become a free member of any B2B portal and should understand the features as well as the functionalities of these portals, before upgrading one’s membership.

2. B2Bs basically are based on ‘Trade Leads’. Trade Lead is an explanation of one’s product or service, perhaps with an image, extended to the market with an intention of buying or selling. Therefore, it is recommended to assure the relevant Trade Lead is available in the database of the portal, which one is desirous to be a premium member.

3. While signing up as a free member, one’s company profile should be with below details:

a) The criterion one selects should be correct. For example, if one is an exporter and selects an importer criterion, one’s profile will be in the importer section and therefore, when an importer searches for a related exporter, one’s profile cannot be seen by the importer since it is in not in the appropriate list. Hence, one cannot be contacted to do business.
b) Make sure that contact information provided is accurate.
c) The company description should be condensed and should have all the details pertaining to one’s business interest.
d) One should choose the appropriate sector/s painstakingly, to insure one’s company and Trade Lead to be listed in the relevant sector/s. Further same accuracy should be shown, if the portal has provided with sub-sectors.
e) Authenticity of the firm is enhanced by providing all the details including awards received, rating certification, etc.

4. It is ideal to ascertain the presence of related businesses in the database of the portal of your interest, to avoid any disappointment in generating business inquiries or even to make a contact. Suppose one wants to proceed even after not able to find related businesses, one should verify the business prospects by directly contacting the portal personnel.

5. Another important factor is one should make sure the portal is user-friendly. If it is not user-friendly, it is most unlikely to produce favorable results.

6. Insure the authenticity of contact address of the portal to avoid any fraud. Secured payment modes should be emphasized while making payments.

7. Top B2Bs will have interactive tools including Live Chat, Toll Free numbers, etc.; try to interact with these tools to guarantee that these functions are not mere decorations.

8. Check whether all the features are up to date.

9. Besides, the list of Trade Leads, Exporters, Importers; it would be ideal to go for a B2B which has lists of Transporters and International Services as well. Such a compilation can further minimize one’s endeavor in obtaining business.

10. It will be an added advantage if one looks for B2Bs which have collaborations with famous international organizations too.

In addition, it is highly recommended to utilize all the available features of the B2Bs to get best results.

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Even after the cognizance of the success of one’s competitor, still indecisively sitting on the fence and thinking whether one should induct the services of B2Bs in one’s business, would be suicidal for oneself or any trader. Traders’ outdated methods of depending on their own old networks will not only wipe out existing market share, perhaps even one’s company from the international markets.

Statistics show that business from B2Bs has seen significant growth in the past five years. Apart from the fact that e-commerce has changed the way international business is done, interest in online services also increased dramatically owing to ease of doing business.

Usually, a new user has a tendency to avoid adapting to new methods of doing things and more so to a thing which is related to technology that initially appears to be complicated, time consuming and expensive. This is just a misconception of the small businessman, but in reality, online based businesses reduce one’s cost and time considerably. Although large international traders are using B2B services effectively, these portals in totality have helped small and medium enterprises to a great extent.

If the reluctance to B2Bs is just related to its usage, it is suggested that it would not take more than two hours to learn the functions and utilities of any leading B2Bs even to a novice of internet. Still a trader finds it difficult to imbibe the concept by oneself; it is recommended to employ a relevant staffer who has basic knowledge of computers and internet.

A staffer with relevant qualification would not cost much either. Either one’s staffer or oneself can create a profile in leading B2Bs and get going with business, either as a free member or a premium one. In the premium membership, one can avail of all the fascinating features including description of one’s company, products and/or services, a mini website (sub-domain), etc. Such a company profile in any leading B2Bs can become a multi-pronged marketing tool of one’s business in no time.

If one is worried about the authenticity of the business from B2Bs, it is suggested that with proper planning and research into these portals, before joining any premium membership, could avoid any future disappointments. Though it is cost effective and fast in enhancing one’s business, it goes without saying that one has to employ all the parameters which one uses in one’s usual business to avoid any fraud.

Every business pattern will have its own merits and demerits, though B2Bs are with lower risks, it is highly recommended to take the services of the right portal to generate trade inquiries and thereafter profits through this process. To conclude, a trader would be familiar with other traders’ claims of doing business and instant success through B2Bs, but if it is not happening for oneself, one should be patient and should try to be active with one’s profile.

Toboc Trade News

Cost effectiveness of the concept was immediately felt by the traders who inducted B2B services to their businesses. Widely used products and services found buyers and sellers instantaneously while unique ones had to wait patiently to get noticed. As more and more traders began to use B2Bs, even these concerns of, ‘had to wait’ was also aptly answered.

A decade ago, B2Bs had to struggle in order to make the traders understand the concept and encourage them to radically depart from the conventional business model they were involved until then. It was even difficult for businesses to shift from traditional business practices to cyberspace. Everything seems to be impractical in the eyes of the trader, when one initially started using B2B. That is because the trader neither sees the client nor is personally able to be involved in negotiations, unless one tries to do so by spending time and money.

Managing one’s business thoroughly in electronic terms is understandably tedious for those who are accustomed to a more mechanical business models. But in the present business environment, if one keeps away from B2Bs, to match the prices offered by one’s B2B-friendly competitors in the same market will be an uphill task.

However, until a trader make use of the premium membership of any B2B portal, whatever business one gets is a bonus to one’s enterprise. If one has chanced upon such a bonus and the decision to go for premium membership is solely based on that, it would be a disappointment. The best way to decide is by checking the portals standing and visibility in e-commerce space to derive sustained business. To ensure business through these portals, one has to learn the functionalities of each portal and should use it as an interactive business tool rather than a one-sided informative tool. Top B2B portals have proven track record of giving valuable inputs to their premium members to increase business.

Still there are many traders who are averse to computer-based business applications; it is a natural tendency towards ‘change’. It is a fear about adopting the unknown. Such fearful traders can look at the modern day kids; they learn computers without even explaining them the nuances of it. Therefore, learning computers and related applications is a child’s play, once one shows interest in them.

The apprehensions on this aspect are nothing compare to one’s own fears which one had before starting one’s business. As a matter of fact, the business model provided by B2B portals have proved that, any single trader with an enterprise along with B2B setting, can easily do international business hitherto was only possible by huge business houses. Thousands of small and medium businesses around the world have benefited through B2Bs, and not to mention, several huge international players. Those who have not yet used the services should do so quickly to expedite one’s business opportunities.

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Globalization in its early years, in-fact, brought different cultures to converge at one point, but at the same time, disintegrated small communities due to greater opportunities away from their homes as well as their own communities. Unfortunately, though the opportunities gave them more material comforts, they were literally isolated from their loved ones in the name of better opportunities. The emergence of SNS gave these people a platform to share their feelings instantly. In no time, these sites became a major hang out for the young, and today even it is appealing to the older generation.

As it is common to any business to target those areas where people meet for fun and entertainment, the SNS too became a virtual battle ground for businesses to enhance their customer base. Especially, small and medium businesses extensively used this platform not only to increase the traffic to their sites but also as a cost-effective tool to market their products or services. The speed in which these SNS thrived gave birth to the fast emerging concept Business Networking Sites (BNS). And these sites have caught the imagination of most companies to utilize the services as part of their social media marketing.

Besides being a database of corporate contacts, BNS have served as essential tools for making a company known to the world with their workforce’s contacts. Nevertheless, most businesses have not so far directly included these media as part of their marketing strategy. Most companies have even denied access to SNS by their staff; the reason cited for this is, job allotted to them was largely neglected owing to increased straying into these areas. But some companies have tentatively allocated some stipulated time to access these sites for propagating their companies’ products or services.

There are plenty of websites mushrooming across World Wide Web besides BNS and SNS including Book-Marking Sites. Each one is vying with one another to integrate the popular features of each concept. And coming years will decide the future course of many popular such sites as to what entity they exist in the e-arena. In future, even terms to segregate these sites may become irrelevant. Industry observers as well as service providers believe, once winners among these sites are well defined, businesses would start extensively using this medium as the primary tool of their marketing strategy.

Instead of spending a large sum of money for advertising through other media, companies are bound to seek the services of Universal Networking Sites (UNS) with or without extra cost. Experts believe that these sites can deliver goods in minimum time with higher productivity. The UNS with comprehensive features of SNS, BNS, etc., will be the next big thing which would attract people from all walks of lives including students, home-makers, businessmen, etc.

Since online public is growing faster as expected, the sites with combined solutions such as socializing, book-marking, job-searching, etc. will soon become an advertising center for all businesses across the world. The UNS is likely to become a cost-effective tool for marketing one’s company’s products or/and services.

UNS also promise good revenue for the service providers through advertisements as compared to the independent services provided by them. Hence, online world could expect popular as well as new service providers to compete one another in adding mind-boggling features to their forthcoming UNS version of their respective service sites.

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Top trade shows still attract many companies to showcase their products and services, but a majority of small and medium enterprises (SME) have totally resorted to do the same through B2Bs. And this in fact, has reduced unnecessary movement of people and commodities to several such shows resulting in lowering cost of marketing as well as energy to every business entity involved.

Besides, instead of traveling to meet a new client to a foreign land, traders found this new rendezvous in the form of B2B portal. In business development process, after making initial interactions through emails, they sometimes even confirm their business facilities through video-conferencing before inking the deals, and this too is made possible through B2Bs.

According to studies, more than 60% of SME utilize the services of B2Bs directly or indirectly. Though there is a flurry and mushrooming of several B2Bs with claims of providing complete business solutions, leading B2Bs are still largely sought after in the e-commerce arena.

B2Bs are environmentally appealing mainly because of the non-involvement of any kind global warming material being used in the business development process.

. The complete business process except product delivery involves just electronic interaction and transaction.

. Products or services are presented to the client/clients by redirecting them to their respective websites from their B2B profile or through the same profile itself depending upon the B2B package their have opted for.

. Avoids physical presence in all stages of business, and in abstract services even delivery is made electronically.

B2Bs generated huge revenues as compared to other business models engaged in global trade without emitting any harmful green house gases or cutting trees which was otherwise used extensively in paper-based business processes of the past. Perhaps serious concern for the deteriorating health of the environment due to climate change and other related issues have prompted businesses to take a paradigm shift to opt for B2Bs.

Most B2Bs expect bringing in such awareness among traders will also help these portals to grow besides other positive aspects. In addition, these portals hope environmentally conscious traders to market B2B concept to non-users through word of mouth or other means to adopt it as part of ‘save the planet slogan’. Some of the B2Bs provide even international services including transport, go-between and other services, besides the regulars, import and export to put their use into good effect.

Apart from the eco-friendly aspects of these portals there are other attractive reasons for traders to adopt this model such as, negligible cost involved in marketing operations of any given company, user-friendliness and not to mention the speed in delivering goods. Though there are any scales to measure the amount or number of benefits to the environment after the arrival of B2B portals is available, looking into the features as well as the time presence, one is made to believe, they have made a huge positive impact in the eco front. The eco-conscious traders, if they have not started utilizing these services, will certainly adopt this business tool as a medium for their global and even for their domestic trading needs very soon.

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