In Ecuador, many firms have web pages but there is not a national initiative encouraging e-commerce, starting with the lack of regulatory issues. The Congress is studying a law that will regulate e-commerce and digital certificates.

• B2B infrastructure

We do have in the banking arena, an important B2B system (not related with Internet), in which companies submit information to banks for billing or collecting invoices from other firms.

I think portals are very important as long as they provide databases in order to quickly find the product you are looking for, have links to exporter sites, allow you to compare product characteristics, give you measures of quality (how to know how good is a product), provide you with references of users of those products, (e.g., users of the product), send you alerts on the products in which you are interested (e.g., new sites added, version upgrades, new prices, etc.)

Although the government and the trading communities have realized the growing role of e-commerce for expanding the international trade, no substantial programme have come forth to encourage e-commerce. E-commerce is beneficial mainly for the big trading companies at this point. too.

• develop infrastructure to use Internet, web site and modern IT technology on a cost-effective basis.
• educate and induce its productive use, otherwise it may to difficult to compete in the world market.

Regarding development of e-commerce to help SMEs, our Centre has conducted and organized workshops and seminars to create awareness about EDI and E-commerce.

We also provide business offers and basic trade information on our web site for exporters.

We suggest that to develop e-commerce, mechanisms must be developed to legalize it in order to clarify the true buyer and seller, quality standardization of the product offered, etc.

In 1996, we set up our Ekeko Shop web site where we offered home-made cakes to people for delivery in Lima, Peru. At the time "e-business" was not yet popular or commonly known in Peru.

The idea was unique, but the practical implementation was a problem. How would we receive payment? We decided to use a method in which the person giving the order had to send a check to an address in the USA which was rather cumbersome. It took several days to clear the check and then deliver it. Even if impractical or not ideal, this procedure worked and we made some sporadic deliveries. The idea and the site was there, just waiting for the right time and the right tools.

In May 2000, we established www.tortasperu.com.pe where we now offer home-made cakes for delivery in the principal cities of Peru. Customers order a cake from a catalogue and pays using credit cards, sending checks, money orders or electronic payments to the bank. The order is sent by e-mail which is sent to a housewife-member of the network to bake and deliver the cake.

To maintain low prices, the company is based mainly on the Internet, making it necessary for the housewives-members to be familiar with computers and Internet. Fortunately for Tortasperu, Peru has an innovative national network of public computer booths, more than one thousand, where Internet access is cheaper than phone calls. Created by Red Cientifica Peruana (RCP), Peru's top Internet Service Provider, the 1000 centers with Internet access make participating in the network, well, a piece of cake.

Housewives have to participate in a course designed to give them basic knowledge of marketing, preparation of the cakes and the use of Internet tools for e-commerce.

The most important experience from these courses is computer knowledge - most were afraid the first time they sat in front of a computer but after 3 hours of instruction, they learned how to use e-mail; how to find our web site and how to open e-mail, using a nearby public computer booth.

We inform the customer when the order is delivered by sending a photograph of the person receiving the cake. All deliveries are recorded with a photograph sent by e-mail to the customer as part of the receipt. This innovation had a tremendous effect, and many of the customers have sent us e-mails describing the gratifying experience seeing their mother, friend or relative very happily receiving the home-made cake.

It is possible to set up a e-business covering the whole country even with a simple product such as cakes.

It is possible for housewives to learn in a very short time how to use Internet to receive orders.

Housewives can combine cake baking, caring for children and using the Internet to earn income for their family without leaving home.

This era of computer information and computer knowledge is drastically changing our world and the way we do business.

People from developing countries have the opportunity to use our imagination and creativity, in order to generate work and income.

Our model of e-business is easy and rather inexpensive to implement. It can be replicated in other countries, with other products, and others need only imagination, willingness to work and a desire to embrace the computer's technology and/or the Internet.