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Taiwan --- Alibaba.com, a major business-to-business (B2B) Web portal, launched its Taiwan Web site yesterday, providing an online marketplace for global trade and other services for importers and exporters. Taiwan's version of alibaba.com will join its Chinese, Japanese and American counterparts.

David Wei, CEO of the company, said alibaba.com already has 40,000 Taiwanese members. He illustrated the resourcefulness of the Web site by stating that after its release, all forms of businesses can be established through alibaba.com.

Wu Shing-han, a representative from UPS Taiwan, commented on how Taiwan businesses will benefit from the services provided by alibaba.com. He noted that the Web site will help maintain the competitiveness of Taiwanese businesses by facilitating greater exchanges between Taiwan and China. He further added that alibaba.com will also connect Taiwan to the rest of the world, thus creating a forum in which Taiwan businesses can expand outside Taiwan. "Rather than flying everywhere, you can just simply go on alibaba.com," Wu exclaimed.

Tsui Jen-fu, an official of alibaba.com, reinforced this sentiment by stating that as alibaba.com's greatest market will be in China, greater emphasis and resources will be placed on the Chinese version, thus allowing Taiwanese businesses to benefit as well.

Steve Kang, sales manager of the Taiwan branch of alibaba.com, stated the Web site has provided a growing online population. "In China, alibaba.com has 24.8 million registered members; outside China, alibaba has 4.9 million registered members around the globe," he said.

"We aim to help Taiwan's small and medium enterprises (SMEs)," Kang emphasized. He explained that while 97.7 percent of Taiwan companies are SMEs, they only contribute to 18 percent of Taiwan's exports. "This shows that there is still much room to grow for these companies," he said.

Manager of CP Group International Co. Ltd., Liu Chih, recommended alibaba.com, saying that since becoming a member of alibaba.com, his company's sales have increased 100 times within two years, from NT$1 million to NT$100 million.

When asked about whether any cultural conflicts would arise between the Chinese and Taiwanese versions of the Web site, Wei responded that rather than conflicts, the creation of the Web sites will lead to greater diversity, which Wei said is beneficial, adding that several of the board members are also Taiwanese.

Source-asiamedia.ucla.edu