On-line trading service launched

IF two Hong Kong companies have their way, the Internet may soon change from being a toy for techies to the preferred method for trading in Asia.

Asian Sources Media (ASM) Group, the region's leading trade publisher, has introduced a new interactive media package that it claims will revolutionise the import/export business.

ASM introduced plans for a massive World Wide Web (WWW) site; on-line trading services known as Asian Sources On-Line; and a series of industry-specific CD-ROMs to accompany the group's many other publications.

DSC Consultants, ASM Group's software division, has introduced ASM eTrade for Windows, an EDI-enabled, integrated trade management system designed to automate trading offices and enable them to trade online.

'We are introducing a whole new world of international trade,' ASM Group CEO Sarah Benecke said.

'The unique integration of our specialised export trade publications, with Asian Sources On-Line, our new hybrid CD-ROMs and our trade management software - ASM eTrade - marks a significant breakthough in business technology.' ASM Group plans to provide individual WWW home pages for all its magazine advertisers before the end of 1996, bringing as many as 6,000 Asian exporters on to the global network.

'This will expand our clients' exposure enormously,' said Howard Finger, general manager of the group's new Interactive Media Division.