The government strategy includes the creation of a flexible legislative framework for electronic commerce and its adoption as the model in government transactions.
The government also hopes to encourage small and medium sized businesses to adopt new technology and increase investment in information technology education and infrastructure.
Louis Hobeika, chairman of Sodetel, stressed the importance of IT development in all companies. ?Speeding transactions and minimizing costs is the key to doing business,? he said. ?Electronic-commerce helps businesses reach this target.?
According to Hobeika, certain drawbacks limit the propagation of electronic-commerce in Lebanon, including slow network speed, consumer awareness and secure transactions.
?Fraud on the Internet is a major concern for an e-commerce company,? he said. ?But the fact is that less money is lost to Internet fraud than mobile phone fraud.?
According to Forrester Research, only $1 is lost to Internet fraud per $1,000 revenue transactions, compared to $19.63 for the cellular phone industry.
Electronic-commerce turnover reached $59 billion in 1998, mainly in business-to-business deals.
?In the future, technology will allow people to bypass local authorities such as Customs,? said Salah Rustom, president of CIE Lebanon.
?Governments that show flexibility in their legislature will benefit more than those who don?t,? he added.
?The Beirut Chamber of Commerce is working on a proposal to facilitate the movement of information, goods and services,? said Hobeika.
?Few Lebanese companies make use of their website for business,? said Rami Majzoub, sales executive at Reuters. ?They use it mainly for promotional purposes.?
Majzoub suggested that e-commerce could help Lebanon regain its global muscle, but that the market was still in its infancy and needed incentives to grow.
?Lebanon has the competitive advantage in certain areas including low dial-up costs, a growing number of credit card holders, and businesses that recognize the potential of the web,? said Majzoub. ?But the industry is still at a crossroads and needs to consolidate and attract joint venture capital to grow to its full potential.?
Majzoub invited businesses to recognize the electronic market, and to act now because tomorrow is too late.
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Foot Notes:
1) Meta tag: is a programming script tag used in HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language), which is used for developing web sites. This tag includes a description of the web site and some keywords that describe the web site. The purpose of it is to allow search engines to index the web site for users to easily locate it. Example:
*META NAME=”KEYWORDS” CONTENT=”university, education, Lebanese American University, etc …*
*META NAME=”DESCRIPTION” CONTENT=”LAU is the leading university in the Middle East etc …”*
2) Merchant: is a company that links between the web surfer and the company of the web site. It ensures that the credit card of the surfer is valid, that he has the amount of money to be paid in the bank, and transfers the needed amount from his account to the company?s bank account.
Bibliography
1. Majzoub, Rami. Seminar on e-commerce at the Bristol Hotel. September 1999 (http://www.dailystar.com.lb)
2. Al-Ittihad Al-Iktissadi. 30th Edition, February 2000. (pp. 29).
3. Haraky, Aly. ?Future of Commerce is Digital: Point and Click?. August 1999. (pp. 1). http://www.dailystar.com.lb
4. Wilson, Ralph F. ?The Web Marketing Checklist?. Web Marketing Today. Issue 57, June 1, 1999.
5. ?Preparing a Customer Profile for Your Internet Marketing Plan?. Web Marketing Today. Issue 76, April 1, 2000.