news out on nstg
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Mar 30, 2000 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- NorStar Group, Inc.,
(OTCBB:NSTG) confirmed this morning that it has formally opened the first of its
planned Pacific Rim offices in Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia.
The Company established its Jakarta office facility as a base for its corporate
operations and for VeeAreCity.com's retail advertising staff and regional member
support units to service new and existing accounts in Indonesia, Burma, India,
Thailand, and other countries in this part of the Pacific Rim. VeeAreCity.Com
offers content, services, and co-branding and co-advertising and marketing
opportunities similar to Yahoo.com and America on Line.
Jakarta was chosen initially because the economic and financial growth it
spearheaded in its part of the Pacific Rim over the past twenty years," said
Sanet, NorStar's Director of Corporate Development, "there is an advanced
physical and computerized infrastructure and trained personnel so important to
the foundation of our business. The recent economic downturns in that same
economy have created opportunities for Norstar to hire knowledgeable,
multi-lingual employees with the market contacts necessary to efficiently
introduce VeeAreCity.com into this part of the Pacific Rim and provide ongoing
customer support and services to our expanding market bases."
"This important milestone is the beginning of Norstar's presence in Asia," said
Jay Sanet. "A recent survey reported that the amount of people using the
Internet in Asia is projected to increase 422 percent to an estimated 228
million users by 2006. Considering the well-known Asian passion for electronic
games and entertainment," said Sanet, "it is a natural progression for them to
buy similar products over the Internet. By aggressively marketing its
proprietary virtual reality headgear, CyberVisor (TM), and its own proprietary
Internet Virtual Reality (IVR) product lines and those of its alliance partners
to Asian subscribers through Far East editions of Norstar's VeeAreCity.com and
its new city specific international sites. NorStar intends to position itself to
be one of the dominant providers of IVR products in this part of the world."
CyberVisor(TM) is NorStar's lightweight, comfortable and affordable proprietary
virtual reality headgear designed for home and school use which can be used to
display virtual reality or three-dimensional products. These proprietary
entertainment, educational and business products and services can be purchased
from Norstar's own inventory and those of its alliance partners.
According to Boston Consulting Group, the online retail market in the
Asia-Pacific rim is growing faster than in the United States. More than 10
million Asian consumers have already bought products and services online, and
Internet use is surging. NorStar is positioning its innovative and cutting edge
subsidiary (www.veearecity.com) to tap into this exploding market that many
analysts say is reaching "critical mass". BCG's study reported that total online
retail revenue in the Asia-Pacific rim grew almost 200 percent to US$2.8 billion
in 1999, and is expected to rise to more than US$7 billion in 2000.
Entertainment is one of the top four Internet Shopping categories in a highly
competitive marketplace, and VeeAreCity.com offers virtual reality
entertainment, educational and non-violent products to its subscribers. By
offering alliance partners access to its subscriber bases in the regional Asian
markets plus use of our fee-based promotional, ecommerce, and marketing services
to reach regional Asian markets for their products and services, NorStar is
creating a win-win-win strategy between the Company, its advertisers and its
clientele for new products and services.
"We are designing VeeAreCity.com to offer many of the same advantages of
Yahoo.com and America on Line," said Jay Sanet, NorStar's Director of Corporate
Development, "with one big difference. NorStar's initial target market is the
millions of teenagers surfing the net as well as their parents and grandparents.
According to industry studies, this market known as `Kiddie Power' is expected
to grow to 90 million by the year 2000. Already an estimated two-thirds of all
individuals under the age of 21 years who are still getting their education
consider themselves regular Internet users."
"In addition, an estimated 40% of Internet users here in the United States are
now women," said Sanet. "For both men and women of all ages, sampling products
and purchasing them directly over the Internet has been a growing trend which
some industry analysts believe could represent as much as 40% of all
transactions in the future. The electronic or ecommerce market was reported to
be $17 billion in 1998 and is expected to grow to over $800 billion by 2002."
Through selective acquisitions and partnering alliances, NorStar Group, Inc.
(OTCBB:NSTG) is positioning itself to be a leading provider of interactive,
virtual reality, entertainment, educational, and business products and services.
NorStar is also the co-developer of a proprietary lightweight, comfortable and
affordable virtual reality headgear, The Cybervisor(TM), which is designed for
home and school.
Safe Harbor: Certain statements contained in this press release, including but
not limited to information regarding the future economic performance and
financial condition of the Company, the plans and objectives of the Company's
management and the Company's assumptions regarding such performance and plans,
are forward-looking in nature. Many factors and conditions could cause actual
results to differ from the forward-looking information contained in this public
announcement. |
