Confira abaixo o discurso de abertura do Fórum Latino-Americano de Negócios Eletrônicos, proferido pelo Sr. Joseph Smadja, diretor executivo do ITC.

e-Business Forum 2004 in Latin America
Wednesday, 3 November 2004
Inaugural Session

Mr. Joseph Smadja
Deputy Executive Director
International Trade Centre (ITC)

Ladies & Gentlemen,

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to this e-Business Forum.

Allow me, first to thank the Government of Brazil for its invitation to hold this event in Sao Paolo and for its hospitality. We are honored by your presence, Mister Minister, Excellency Luiz Fernando Furlan, Minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Affairs, representing the Brazilian Government.

I would also like to thank Mr. Cid Torquato, Executive Director of Camara-e.net and his staff for their commitment and support to launch and implement this event. You are no doubt a great partner and we look forward to building further on this partnership.

The International Trade Centre, better known as the ITC, as most of you may be aware, has two parents, UNCTAD and the World Trade Organization. In the United Nations System, ITC is the focal point for technical cooperation in trade promotion and business development.

In November last year, we organized the first e-Business Forum for Asia and the Pacific. It attracted representatives from 14 countries and generated a lot of interest. Subsequently, numerous invitations were received from several countries in all regions of the world to hold similar regional e-Business Forum.

ITC is therefore pleased to co-host the second such event for the Latin American region, here in Sao Paolo. Brazil has taken positive steps to promote e-commerce within the country, including the creation of the e-Brazil movement, the passing of legislation on security, privacy and e-business and is active in the WSIS context. We would like to see these initiatives to be widely shared and presented at the international level.

During this three-day event, we are bringing together trade policy-makers and business representatives in e-Business in the region to debate on how to empower SME exporters through better use of the information and communication technology.

2’ - e@ITC

Our role at ITC, is to contribute to efforts in the developing world, for businesses to be able to compete in the new digital economy and build confidence in e-business. Our institutional comparative advantage does not lie in devising global regulatory standards or in creating telecommunications infrastructures. Other public and private sector agencies are competent enough and have the requisite knowledge, skills and resources to do this.

At ITC, we are concentrating our efforts to put "e" to work in driving the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises, to create awareness and to demonstrate potential positive and negative impacts of e-trade. We endeavour to:

• Help develop a coherent vision and e-trade strategy involving both the public and the private sectors;
• Diagnose a country’s e-trade capacity and potential;
• Provide relevant e-export growth scenarios;
• Identify and develop e-trade national champions;
• Promote e-alliances;
• Facilitate integration into cyber marketplaces; and
• Support a country’s brand building in the e-business sector.

At the same time, we seek to enhance our own e-capability. Information on all of ITC’s technical assistance material can now be obtained from our web-site www.intracen.org/e-trade. This site supports a community of members who are encouraged to exchange, share, develop their experiences and pool their knowledge with their counterparts all over the world, as well as make new contacts and receive peer support. ITC has also put together a Compendium of Tools and Services that it can offer to partner institutions and SMEs. Many of these tools are available free of charge. Some specialised tools require a minimal investment from partners to customize them to the local conditions of the country or region involved. Yet others require a formal funded programme for delivery.

ICTs have changed the face of business. They continue to do so at a faster speed. Companies that embrace these technologies are boosting their competitiveness, they are reducing their costs and opening entirely new business opportunities.

Despite these inherent benefits, all businesses are not applying ICTs, and those who are, often operate in an unsympathetic business environment.

We expect that this e-Business Forum will help tackle some of the challenges SMEs face when entering the digital economy.

This 2004 Forum prime focus will be on the critical issues of e-business development in fast-moving, technology-driven global markets and constantly changing business practices. In particular, it will concentrate on such issues as new waves of e-business, e-security, e-legislation, access to cyber marketplaces, investments in e-business technologies.

We will learn about evolution of e-business in different regions of the world – Latin America of course, but also Africa, Asia, Europe and the USA. Our knowledge of current and emerging e-business will be enriched through the sharing of experience of participants from the public sector, e-business industry associations and e-business champions in the region.

In addition to plenary sessions, we will hold very focused workshops on topics like e-Textile, e-Finance and e-Business Networking. They will be held during the second day of our gathering. The experience of our E-Trade Bridge Programme will be shared with you all.

What can we expect from this Forum?

This Forum will facilitate, it will enhance, the dialogue between export managers of SMEs and national strategy makers responsible for promoting international e-business; it will make the voice of SMEs heard by policy-makers. We anticipate that a constructive debate will help bridge the gap between decision-makers and industries in national e-business and e-trade strategy formulation.

This Forum will showcase successful e-business models and initiatives from around the world to address the specific critical issues of e-business development. Recognizing the potential of new and innovative technologies is one thing; applying them effectively to boost the bottom line is another.

This Forum looks forward to enriching its participants’ knowledge through interactive learning, expertise sharing (South-South and North-South) and e-network building. Indeed, we have here a unique platform of high-level synergies for national and international stakeholders on e-Business co-operation. Both private and public sectors will be better equipped to deal with the rapidly evolving e-business environment and the challenges of e-Trade.

Let me end my words of welcome by emphasizing how pleased, my colleagues and I, are to see you all here in Sao Paolo. We are looking forward to your active participation with the hope that these coming three days will be filled with a spirit of learning, sharing experiences and exploring challenges for e-business in order to prepare for the future.

Thank you.