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By Lisa Burroughes, 3 July 2000 00:30

NEWS The Commonwealth Business Council (CBC) is to set up an online marketplace to provide electronic procurement facilities to thousands of businesses in its 54 member countries around the world. It hopes to have around 20,000 organisations signed up within the next three years, trading up to $5bn a year. Membership will be drawn through industry associations and commerce chambers in each individual country. Dr Mohan Kaul, director general of the CBC, said the system will help break down traditional barriers to global trading. He said: "At this time, a number of companies are not comfortable trading with countries where there is political or economic instability. But in an electronic environment these political and economic factors would not be so effective. We will be providing an environment for companies to jump that hurdle into a new environment where they can have global access." Michael Templeman, managing director of elcom.com, the e-procurement company behind the system, claims companies will also opt for aggregate-buying practices through the marketplace by the end of the year. However, he added: "It's important that suppliers follow the standards that are emerging like for example the UNSPSC (United Nations Standard Product Services Code) so that when they provide the catalogue content they may have different descriptions but it's recognised as the same product." The system will go live in September and although UK companies will be the first to get access through the British Chamber of Commerce, other countries such as India, South Africa and Canada will follow shortly after. CBC expects the whole project to be completed in two years. elcom.com is also working with the UNG77 - a subset of the United Nations - and hopes the CBC project will encourage the development of a similar or integrated marketplace with the UNG77.