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Dan
ZiaSun to Launch Major Asian e-Commerce Portal
SAN DIEGO, CA - March 24, 1999. ZiaSun Technologies Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: ZSUN - news; www.ziasun.com) has announced it will shortly launch an Asian oriented e-commerce portal called ''Asia4Sale'' (www.asia4sale.com), based in Hong Kong.
Mr. Anthony L. Tobin, President and CEO of ZiaSun said, ''The project is currently in an advanced stage of development. We have teams of programmers working on this in Hong Kong and Manila. A major marketing drive is also being planned from our regional headquarters in Hong Kong.''
Asia4Sale will be a three-part e-commerce facility catering to the global market offering home shopping, industrial auctions and business barter. The home shopping network, ''ShoppingAsia,'' will allow on-line shoppers anywhere in the world to order goods direct from manufacturers in Asia, and have these purchases delivered direct to their door.
The second component of the e-commerce hub will be an industrial auctions service, ''AuctionAsia,'' whereby businesses, dealers or individuals all over the world will be able to buy or sell heavy equipment, vehicles, machinery, stock lots, etc., in the Asian region, through the company's on-line auctions. It is much like an industrial e-Bay, but we will be performing more like a traditional auctioneer, by taking legal possession of the goods and collecting payments. This will avoid the sort of legal problems experienced by other on-line auction services when sellers have failed to deliver goods to the buyers,'' said Mr. Tobin.
ZiaSun's Asia4Sale portal will be greatly enhanced by its recent acquisition of Pacific Barter Ltd (www.pacificbarter.com), an Asia-based operation specializing in business-to-business barter transactions, the third principal element of the e-commerce hub, ''BarterAsia.''
Pacific Barter's exchange system allows its member clients to trade without the use of cash. The company acts as a third party clearing house for transactions between members, and takes its revenues from commissions.
Mr. Tobin said that ZiaSun's expertise would be used to expand Pacific Barter, particularly on the Internet. The barter operations would be integrated into the Asia4Sale project, he added. Market research group International Data Corporation (IDC) were recently quoted as predicting that electronic commerce in the Asia-Pacific region (excluding Japan) would reach US$16.5 billion by 2001.
The number of Internet users is expected to grow from about five million in 1997 to more than 25 million, according to IDC. The Asia-Pacific market may end up having the largest number of e-commerce customers in the world by the turn of the century, they predict.
''ZiaSun, with its operations in Asia, is perfectly positioned to benefit from this phenomenal growth,'' said Mr. Tobin. ''Asia4Sale represents a major push into this area.'' The company was making substantial investments in Asia, and Asia4Sale would be the e-commerce flagship, he said.
ZiaSun's statement comes hot on the heels of a joint-venture deal struck just days ago between Microsoft Corporation and Hongkong Telecom, who on March 9 announced plans to develop a high-speed Internet service, providing shopping, movies, news, music and software via home personal computers and televisions.
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates was in Hong Kong, now a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China, for the announcement, which also coincided with a commitment from the software giant to participate in a HK$13 billion (US$1.66 billion) cyberport being developed by the government.
ZiaSun Technologies is a provider of Internet products and services and Internet-focused support services. ZiaSun's primary Internet services include: Swiftrade (www.swiftrade.com), M Finance (www.mfinance.com), PINmail (www.pinmail.com), MediaHits (www.mediahits.com) and Search Dragon (www.searchdragon.com).
Note: Any statements released by ZiaSun Technologies Inc. that are forward-looking are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Editors and investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements invoke risk and uncertainties that may affect the company's business prospects and performance. These include economic, competitive, governmental, technological and other factors discussed in the statements.
For more information please contact our Investor Relations Department at (800) 773-7317.
SOURCE: ZiaSun Technologies Inc.
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