U.S. to unveil report on internet commerce

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26 June 1997, Reuters

U.S. to unveil report on internet commerce

Kuala Lumpur: The United States will release a report next week about commerce on the Internet, which could account for up to a fifth of global retail trade in a decade, a senior White House advisor said on Wednesday.

Ira Magaziner, senior adviser to President Clinton on Public Policy, said the nine-point Framework for Global Electronic Commerce would outline strategies for buying and selling on the Internet and other electronic networks.

Internet commerce could account for between 10 and 20 percent of global retail sales within a decade, with a far bigger percentage in the United States, he said.

``We believe within the next decade, electronic commerce potentially will become our largest area of trade for the U.S.,'' Magaziner told a news conference at the opening of an Internet Society conference in the Malaysian capital.

The White House report, to be unveiled by Vice President Al Gore on July 1, would cover issues including taxation and tariffs, a uniform commercial code, electronic payments, technical standards, contracts, privacy, content, inter-operability and encryption.

The United States hopes ``to achieve some global agreement on frameworks for electronic commerce...by January 1, 2000,'' Magaziner said.

In pursuing this aim, Magaziner said U.S. officials were meeting with public and private organisations to seek their views. ``We don't believe our strategy has all the answers.''

U.S. representatives would be holding meetings in Europe, Japan and South Korea later this year.

Magaziner said he had already introduced some aspects of the report to the Malaysian and Singaporean governments during his visit to the two countries this week.

Singapore has begun wiring up every home, office and business with fibre optic cable so they can get high-speed access to the Internet under a programme called Singapore One.

Malaysia is building a ``Multimedia Super Corridor'' for global information technology companies.

``Malaysia and Singapore have been leaders in the area of the Internet,'' Magaziner said, adding there has been ``some very advanced thinking'' in the two countries about information technology.

Magaziner stressed the primacy of the private sector in developing electronic commerce.

``The private sector should lead that process, not governments,'' he said.