Friday, 18 May 2007

Singapore & Thailand Have Highest Number of Internet Savvy SMEs in AP

Most of the small medium businesses (SMEs) in Asia Pacific have a relatively strong internet presence with Singapore and Thailand topping the list with 77 percent and 85 percent respectively.

Based on a survey done by independent business to business research company, Kadence Asia Pacific, who based its research on the number of operational computers a company had and how many of those computers were connected to the World Wide Web, the results show that whilst most of the Asian SMEs have embraced technology in their businesses a large number of them are showing no signs of following suite.

The survey---which was done on businesses with less than 200 employees spanning a diverse range of industries from small family-run retail shows to larger manufacturing and wholesale trading companies--- included countries like Australia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and the Philippines.

95 percent of SMEs in Australia, Hong Kong and Taiwan are connected to the internet whilst 50 percent of Indonesian SMEs are still not.

Malaysia and the Philippines had more than 70 percent of their small and medium businesses connected whilst India, famous for being a booming IT industry, had only a mere 55 per cent of its SMEs with connection to the internet.

According to a statement in the Business Time made by Piers Lee, Kadence’s Asia Pacific managing director, the reason for behind these numbers is probably not due to the unwillingness to innovate but possibly due to infrastructure and technology issues.