I wonder why this shows up when I do a search for pronetlink.com. I think this is very interesting. It is not the first time it showed up in a search:
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Former Danzas executives form e-commerce company
Financing Trade - Gordon Platt
Gordon Platt, based in New York, is the financial editor at The Journal of Commerce. He can be reached at (212) 837-7119.
Three former top executives of Danzas Corp., the global logistics provider, have formed a company known as GlobalNet Systems, which will offer an Internet-based system to facilitate global e-commerce.
The system will enable U.S. merchants to sell their products or services directly to foreign consumers, said Werner Reisacher, chief executive and co-founder of GlobalNet Systems.
The other founders are Ronald S. Ruzicka, executive vice president, and Thomas Jermann, vice president of international logistics.
Reisacher was executive vice president and chief financial officer at Danzas Corp., Bellevue, Wash. Ruzicka was Danzas' director of financial services, and Jermann was vice president of corporate services.
"One promising potential of e-commerce, that has yet to be exploited, is to eliminate international borders and open up vast new global markets," Reisacher said.
"No matter how virtual a transaction may become, the risk, cost and complexity of international transactions will always be a reality," he said. "Thus, to-date, it remains difficult for e-commerce merchants to sell their products or services directly to foreign consumers.
GlobalNet Systems plans to eliminate those problems by digitally linking, in real time, the data and services required for processing and facilitating an entire international e-commerce transaction, from purchase to delivery, through a single Web-based platform, known as the Electronic Global Access Program, or eGAP.
The company said eGAP will be the first comprehensive, fully integrated system that addresses all of the obstacles to international e-commerce for both buyers and sellers.
GlobalNet Systems, Renton, Wash., is a division of American Fast Freight Inc., Kent, Wash., which offers freight forwarding and consolidating to Alaska, Hawaii and the Caribbean.
For a U.S. merchant using the eGAP service, an international sale will be just like a domestic sale, Ruzicka said.
The foreign buyer, using Internet access, sees the total landed price in his own currency. Using AFF's nationwide system of warehouses and distribution centers as its front-end, GlobalNet Systems will take care of customs clearance, export declarations, currency conversion and payment processing, as well as picking up the goods and delivering them to the international customer, Ruzicka said.
While at Danzas, Ruzicka created Cash Forwarding, a system using credit insurance that allows exporters to get paid upfront and to offer credit terms to overseas buyers.
The payment process using eGAP will depend on the country where the buyer is located and will make use of debit card and electronic check options available in that country, Ruzicka said.
"The exporter will get paid from a trust account within 72 hours of shipment," he said.
The eGAP service will be linked to a company's existing Web site as the "shopping cart/check-out" option for foreign buyers.
GlobalNet Systems plans to have a "beta version" of the eGAP system ready by the end of June, which will initially facilitate global e-commerce between North America and the world's top 25 trading countries.
The company projects that eGAP will enable e-commerce between any two countries by the end of 2001.
The eGAP system is the first "one-click" system for global e-commerce, Reisacher said. "It also represents the first opportunity for companies with limited financial and technical resources to participate in global trade," he said.
Reisacher said eGAP will allow any merchant or vendor who is able to maintain a Web site to participate in global e-commerce.
While eGAP will be marketed initially as a stand-alone service, the eGAP software engine has a modular design that will enable the company to eventually offer the individual modules as products in a variety of different forms.
TRADE ACCEPTANCE DRAFTS AVAILABLE ON WEB
ProNetLink.com announced the launch of Actrade Capital Inc.'s Trade Acceptance Draft program on its Web site.
The program provides third-party, unsecured payment terms to qualifying commercial buyers who make purchases on ProNetLink.com.
The TAD program is an alternative to cash or the open-account methods that are typically used in business-to-business transactions.
A TAD is a negotiable payment instrument signed by the buyer and made payable to the supplier.
ProNetLink.com is a B2B e-commerce portal designed specifically for the international trade community.
In addition to locating potential markets and trade partners, ProNetLink.com members may conduct business functions online, participate in live trade event netcasts and communicate in real-time with trading partners.
ProNetLink.com also offers PNL-TV, the Internet's first trade news broadcast network.
EX-IM BANK HELPS AMF ROLL STRIKES IN TURKEY
AMF Bowling Inc., Richmond, Va., is selling bowling equipment to private-sector buyers in Turkey with the help of more than $1 million in medium-term guarantees from the U.S. Export-Import Bank.
The transactions followed Ex-Im Bank's recent announcement of a $1 billion program to finance purchases of U.S. exports by small and medium-sized Turkish businesses.
In February, Ex-Im Bank approved a $263,000 medium-term guarantee to help AMF sell bowling equipment to Toprak Finansal Kiralama in Istanbul, Turkey.
Last November, Ex-Im Bank approved a $793,000 medium-term guarantee to help finance AMF's sale to a Turkish leasing company, Halk Finansal Kiralama, also in Istanbul.
The lender in both transactions is First International Bank, Hartford, Conn.
In fiscal 1999, Ex-Im Bank authorized $420 million in financing to support U.S. exports to Turkey in 47 transactions, 45 of which involved purchases of U.S. goods and services by small and medium-sized Turkish companies. |
