Chamber launches e-commerce support program

Bolivian trade and industry chamber Cainco, which represents Santa Cruz department, launched a 30-month project Tuesday (August 17) to help local small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) discover e-commerce, project monitor Cecilia Romero told BNamericas. The initiative, dubbed E-C@inco Tecnology and Information, launched with a presentation in Santa Cruz by international consultant John Hewitt on e-commerce strategies in Costa Rica and Central America. This year, Cainco will focus on making the SME sector aware of the project and training up consultancies to which it could farm out SME training programs, Romero said. In 2005 Cainco will add concrete services, such as internet access, website design and hosting, digital certification and legal assistance. Cainco has not yet decided on partners for these services, which will be 100% subsidized, she said. The project will cost US$890,000 in total, of which the multilateral investment fund (MIF) is putting up US$620,000, according to information posted by MIF controlling authority, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Only four out of 100 local companies use the internet as a work tool, according to local newspaper El Deber. The project prioritizes tourism, industry and forestry sectors and applicants need not be Cainco members, Romero said. Cainco represents 1,500 local Santa Cruz companies in the industrial, trade, services and tourism sectors.