Ray Van Eng (12/04/96)                      

With the recent introduction of a number of new information technology initiatives, Singapore aims to become the IT mega hub of the Asia Pacific region.

Among the projects scheduled are TIARA (Timely Information for All, Reasonable and Affordable) which provides a one-stop access to multiple libraries; Singapore Connect, an Internet-based information directory to help small and medium size businesses to find potential partners via cyberspace. The plan is to recruit 200,000 companies by 1999.

To further e-commerce efforts on the Internet, the Singapore government is putting up a web site (www.ech.ncb.gov.sg) featuring 30 merchandizing programs that include the marketing of clothes, cakes, flowers, music CDs, computers, and travel reservation services.

Lastly, there is the introduction of the Infrastructure for Electronic Identification (IEI), an authentication and secure electronic card payment services.

Singapore, a small island state of about 3 million people, is aggressively billing itself up as the most and best computerized nation in the world, boasted national computer board (NCB) chairman Lim Swee Say in a recent news conference.

In case you are wondering what 'ech' in the web address stands for -- Electronic Commerce Hotbed. On its home page, the progressive nation in the South Pacific declared that "The heat is on in Singapore, and the economy is set ablaze with the advent of Electronic Commerce!"

Next page -- Singapore's biggest worry -Malaysia.

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