IBM chooses Sydney for Asia Pacific E-business

While Singapore was the main rival for the center, Sydney will be the Asia Pacific headquarters, which will create 340 jobs in the process.

MELBOURNE, 24 Jul 2000 (Asia Pulse) - International multimedia giant IBM has selected Sydney over Singapore to establish its $A23 million ($US13.44 million) Asia-Pacific e-business center.

Announcing the center, the New South Wales Premier Bob Carr, said the Sydney center would become the focal point for IMB's e-business development and support operations for the entire region. About 340 jobs will be created in the process.

"The IBM initiative confirms the advantages of Sydney and Australia as the information technology (IT) and e-business hub of the Asia Pacific region," Carr said. Singapore was Sydney's main rival for the project. Figures from Forrester Research revealed that e-business in the Asia Pacific region will grow to US$1.6 trillion by 2004.