More Malaysian companies going into e-business

MALAYSIA (iStar) - vLinx Asia president Shannon Boase said the Year 2000 separated the companies with long term potential from those which wanted to make a fast profit.

"Among those that could consider it a good year are those with a solid business model and built a brand reputation, though in the case of many e-marketplaces that sprouted, not many proved to be viable businesses," she said. "The giant of the industry is business-to-business (B2B) and it is fast gaining ground."

Boase said that Gartner Research predicted that B2B e-commerce would reach US$2.7 trillion in 2004 globally, with e-marketplaces fueling most of the growth.

Sun Microsystems Malaysia managing director Govinathan Pillai said 2000 was a great year for the information communication technology (ICT) industry with significant growth for major players.

3Com Malaysia country manager Pang Yee Beng said the local Internet penetration grew tremendously this year to 1.27 million users from 1.89 million users last year.

Oracle Malaysia managing director William Houng-Lee said the upswing in Malaysia's e-business transactions was an indicator that the ICT sector was growing fast and playing a major role in the country's economic development.

DataOne Asia deputy chief executive Michael Warren said that the aftermath of the Y2K shakeout provided a hesitant start to the industry although many companies were attracted to the Internet this year.