Thousands of Hong Kong companies can transmit documents by Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) instead of sending the paper equivalent, as a result of Tradelink Electronic Document Services.
Tradelink was established in 1988 with shareholders who are all key players in the international trade cycle. They include the Hong Kong SAR Government, the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce and leading banks and companies.
The firm's mission, said chief executive Justin Yue, was 'to enhance the productivity and competitiveness of Hong Kong's 70,000-strong import-export trading community by making available a range of value-added electronic services'.
'The whole purpose of EDI is to enable traffic between computers without human intervention and, more importantly, EDI allows traffic between different applications,' Mr Yue said.
Tradelink's first service, an electronic submission facility for quota licence applications, began in January. A further service, allowing electronic lodgement of import and export declarations, was introduced in April. Over the next two years, more trade transactions will be made available.
EDI allows trade documentation process to be automated. For example, the receipt for a purchase order from an overseas customer can automatically generate all manufacturing instructions, shipping documents and licence applications.
EDI is acknowledged as the key to the quick-response supply chain and 'just-in-time' manufacturing.