RP-US trade goes online

AZ Agro Feeds has been in business for only two years. Just like any medium-sized upstart company, AZ is going through growth pains: the mad cow and foot-and-mouth diseases have put on hold its skim milk importations from Britain, the recent political turmoil has made several foreign companies suddenly shy away from almost wrapped-up deals, and though much has changed in the local scene, AZ can’t quite catch up with long established players in the business.

For months, John Villa, AZ president and CEO, has been scouring the Internet for other potential suppliers. Now, there’s something he can whoop about in the coming days: There’s a new dot-com on the Internet block and it’s not one of those run-of-the-mill sites that offer huge profits and fast cash, though it offers everything from airplanes to zinc and its rewards are as huge and profitable. Ladies and gentlemen, BuyUSA.com has landed on the Net. Suddenly, business for Villa and his company will never be the same again.

Officially launched yesterday at Comm-Asia 2001, BuyUSA.com is a one-stop shop e-commerce site developed by the US Department of Commerce and IBM to bring the best of America to the fingertips of Philippine companies and the rest of the world. In a nutshell, it’s where US-based manufacturers and foreign companies meet and match.

"What we’re doing is we’re providing Philippine companies access to essentially thousands of US companies that offer everything — from soup to nuts, literally," said George Ruffner, senior commercial officer of the US Embassy in Manila. "It’s a tremendous leap forward and it will be a great benefit to Philippine companies because it gives them a chance to rapidly and easily access a very broad range of US companies and products."

Though BuyUSA.com is still in its initial phase, local companies can already register for free. Just fill up the online registration form and specify the products and/or services you want to source from the United States and BuyUSA.com automatically matches you with potential suppliers. Thanks to the technological wonders of IBM and the dedicated trade specialists of the US Department of Commerce, importers are automatically informed whenever a company is interested in your products or your request for quote. Plus, registered companies can likewise access catalogues, prices, lists of products and suppliers and other vital information such as business tips and travel and tourism information. Online services such as partnership searches, automated e-mail alerts and online discussion are also available.

"Again, companies in the Philippines pay nothing but they get much more," stressed US Foreign Commercial Service Deputy Director General Jerry Mitchell, in an online teleconference with Filipino journalists last Tuesday. "BuyUSA.com provides more choices, and more choices means cheaper prices for Philippine buyers."

Incidentally, the Philippines is the first country where BuyUSA.com was launched, thanks to the exceptional long-standing trade relations between the two countries. Mitchell pointed out that the Philippines was the 19th largest export market for US non-agricultural goods in 2000, with exports amounting to $8.8 billion – much more than the total non-agricultural exports to Brazil, Hong Kong and India. US agricultural exports to the Philippines, on the other hand, also increased more than 18 percent to almost $900 million.

"Aside from giving Philippine companies access to thousands of US companies, BuyUSA.com also provides quick access to the highest quality US goods and services," Mitchell added. "That’s because the suppliers are pre-qualified by the US Department of Commerce. Thus, Philippine companies can have a high degree of confidence on American suppliers registered on BuyUSA."

Though registered companies can already do much at BuyUSA.com, more features will still be added, according to Satendra Gupta, IBM program director for global trade services. Once Phase 2 of the site is completed by the end of August this year, registered companies can transact, settle payments, and order shipments online.

"BuyUSA.com is a showcase of IBM’s capability in building an end-to-end e-marketplace," boasted Gupta. "The site is very secure because it is housed in one of the cutting-edge universal server farms of IBM in North Carolina. Furthermore, the site is protected by two firewalls and a state-of-the-art encryption software."

BuyUSA.com currently has 3,859 registered buyers, 130 of which are from the Philippines. Over 2,000 US companies, on the other hand, have registered.