Full Press Conference (PC) Transcript from 8/8/2000
Jean Pierre Collardeau: Good morning. My name is Jean Pierre Collardeau and I am the Founder of ProNetLink. I am pleased to welcome all of you today to this very special press conference.
When I first came up with the concept of ProNetLink.com, I envisioned a system that would allow businesses around the world, regardless of their size, to trade products over the Internet. All of us at ProNetLink have been working very hard to reach that goal. And I believe as a result of the announcements, that goal will be a great deal closer. With that, I want to say thank you, to all our loyal shareholders and supporters for you too are an important part of our team. Thank You.
I now would like to introduce a man who has been working here by my side since the very earliest days of ProNetLink.com. Some of you know him, I call him the very great Glenn Zagoren.
Glenn Zagoren: Good morning and welcome. When ProNetLink was launched back in 1998, we established a timeline and a business plan that would allow us to build a company and introduce a product into the market that had the potential in changing the way businesses, specifically small and medium size businesses, would handle trade internationally. We have hit most of those milestones along the way and we have set to reach higher ones.
Right now we have one of the largest procurement databases online featuring 3.2 million companies from 122 countries. We have over 30,000 trade opportunities posted to the site each month. We have online tools for everything from insurance to compliance. We have built a strong relationship with governments around the world, especially the U.S. Department of Commerce and we are very thankful for that. We started PNL TV which you are watching today, which is the first news network targeted specifically to broadcast, over the internet, trade news. We're finding that this is being received very well around the world. We've covered many economic events, trade events including the WTO, projects with the Department of Commerce, the ADR discussions, E-Commerce summit, the economic forum on the Davos, and so on. And we plan on continuing adding to the future. Each step of the way we've done what's right for our product for our international businesses and for our shareholders. With that in mind I look at Pronetlink now as an F-16 ready to take off. We're about to fire the afterburners that will take us up to the next level. About four months ago Jean Pierre and I began the process of finding some key executives that can help take the company to that next level. We found what we were looking for in two people that you will meet today.
First I would like to introduce Ambassador John Bohn. Ambassador Bohn was appointed as an Ambassador by the President of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. He served a four-year term as the Chairman of the Ex-Im Bank of the United States where he over saw eight billion dollars worth of trade financing in 25 countries. He was President and CEO of Moody's Investor Services, the world's leading Credit Research and Analysis company. He was Special Assistant to the Secretary of Treasury. He has the unique understanding of the importance of the Internet and its effect on trade. But most important, Ambassador Bohn has now joined the ProNetLink team. I introduce our new Co-Chairman, CEO, and President, Ambassador John Bohn.
John Bohn: Thank you, Glenn. Thank you and good morning. Let me first say that I am extremely pleased and excited about being here. I'm pleased to be joining this team that has done so much and has come so far in such a short time. I'm pleased particularly because Pronetlink is in the right place at the right time.
We are witnessing the coming together of two of the most impactful forces in our generation, that of globalization and that of technology. The technology with the globalization is changing the way the world does business. Most importantly it is giving the advantage heretofore only possessed by the large, well financed diverse companies it is giving those same advantages to the small and medium size enterprise; those enterprises that we target here at Pronetlink. It's a profound change and it's a change that will continue to accelerate going forward, and I am particular pleased to be here because I have watched trade unfold over the years back in my trade finance days, my banking days, and I see now the speed and the power that the Internet can deliver to this traditional service. The good news is that the Internet is spreading very rapidly around the world. Access is growing daily and the power of those tools, coupled with the need and the growing global awareness among people, and among trading partners, and indeed among the public at large is becoming more and more intense. These markets can only grow, they can only accelerate, and they can only come closer together. What Pronetlink does is bring those powers to the small and medium size enterprise whether you are in the business in Cleveland or in the Mid-West or Hong Kong or in the Soviet Union or Latin America.
We are in fact providing a one world communication and transaction service. It is very exciting for me to see this and I look forward in working with this highly motivated and accomplished team. So what are we going to do to take it to the next level? There are a number of areas which I'm sure you're concerned with. The first is funding. I'm pleased to announce today that our Founder, who you heard from at the beginning, has contributed another one million dollars as a show of his confidence to where we're going as we go forward. We are in continuing discussions with a number of venture funds. The important thing to know is that we are looking not just for venture funding, but for funding in association with key strategic partners going forward. Those discussions are on-going and I can announce today that as we speak we are in discussions with a new Chief Financial Officer, which we hope to bring on within the next 30 days.
I'd like to introduce Karen Morgan now. Karen and I have worked together in the Internet business for the last 3 ½ years. Karen is truly an Internet visionary. A founder of an Internet company, a person not only who understands how the Internet works, understands the power of relationships, understands the power and the utility of the global enterprise that the Internet can bring.
Karen Morgan: Thank you, John. I am also pleased and very excited to join the ProNetLink team and to be able to lend my experience as a Co-Founder of one of the earliest Internet-based global exchanges. I look forward to leveraging that experience into ProNetLink and to working with an exceptional team.
We are here to complete the vision of creating a global market place for small-and-medium sized enterprises. Our approach of aggregating strategic partners including global B-to-B infrastructure players, commerce portals, traditional value added service providers, and other relevant partners who will allow us to scale rapidly to assure ProNetLink's position as the premier trade platform for SME's globally. The next generation is to integrate the existing information and communications network into a full-blown online marketplace environment to facilitate international trade between and among small-and-medium sized enterprises. ProNetLink is now positioned to be the B-to-B infrastructure player in this space. With that let me turn it back over to John, to talk further about the activities going forward.
John Bohn: It is important to note, that as we go forward and build out our capabilities we now have the advantage of the recent signing of the digital signature bill, which permits a whole new generation of transactions to take place over the Internet. The team heretofore has spent time and energy and much creativity in developing personal relationships around the world. The local portals in a number of countries bring together both information and the ability to chat and soon to transact business in these areas. We're going to continue those and we're going to accelerate the additions as we go forward. Glenn mentioned earlier PNL TV: this is a very important area for us. It is a unique facility, which we think is of increasing importance. And I am pleased to note that Glenn will be paying additional attention and increasing attention to the development of the relationships and how we go forward. It might be interesting to note that much of the new law and practices in trade, areas in which you are interested, will be coming out of such organizations as the WTO and trade negotiations. As international law and practice develops, much of it with trade driving, and PNL TV will be there to carry that news for you.
We're going to spend additional time and energy focusing on the sales and marketing efforts of PNL. We've met with a number of companies over this past year or so who are anxious to work with us in expanding our product offering. We met with country delegations in various countries that are also interested in working with PNL and expanding this vision of the truly interconnected global market place. We're going to be selecting an advertising and marketing agency to help get the word out so that Pronetlink ceases to become one of the best-kept secrets in town. The government relationships, as Glenn has mentioned, are key. We have spent an enormous amount of time and energy working with the government, particularly the U.S. Department of Commerce, and I have to say that Glenn has done a superb job in getting them both to understand, accept and be willing to take advantage of the private sector compliment to what the government is trying to do for the small and medium size enterprise. I could only say that this partnership is a good one, a growing one, and one that is good for both sides, and widely respected as that. The next steps - there are number of next steps that we will undertake in the next few weeks and months.
As Karen mentioned, we will be building new alliances. In this day and age, it is important to add alliances for strategic focus, for speed and for the ability to deliver the kinds of services that we have promised and that we expect to deliver. We expect us to continue to be the premier global inter-marketing service. We believe that we will be able to provide the kind of services that are truly new generations. Much has been done, but there is much to be done.
We will be expanding our board, we'll be adding advisors, we will be interested in moving forward in a number of different directions. Let me just say that we all think, Karen and I are all pleased to join this team. We look forward to working with a highly motivated and energized staff. We think this is, as I alluded to earlier; we are at the right place at the right time. I believe that this is working its way to be becoming a truly preeminent global enterprise. Pronetlink provides a unique service to the global trade community by bringing together the various elements needed to make trade work across national boarders, giving access to a vibrant and growing section of our nation, the small and medium size enterprise. Of equal importance, ProNetLink brings foreign buyers into our warehouses, into our showrooms and into our product and service development areas in a way truly never before possible. Going forward we expect to make it easier to cross borders and realize the economic benefits that come with wider market reach and simple inexpensive technology. We all here, at ProNetLink, look forward to working with you all, bringing you the kinds of service, the kind of quality, and moving forward in the growth trajectory that has already been charted by Jean Pierre and Glenn. We do look forward to taking that extra step, if you like, and getting on with the after-burners. If you have any questions let me suggest that you e-mail them, we will do the best we can to answer them. Thank you. |
