E-Commerce

a) To raise awareness of ICTs

To raise awareness of the nature and importance of ICTs and of the Internet as a tool for enhancing productivity and as a platform for global commerce.

Action items

i. Assist the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and other private sector associations to communicate this message

• Work with the Chamber and others to develop and deliver a publicity campaign to the 30,000 + SMEs and other companies in Mongolia of the uses and benefits on the Internet for business. 

b) To strengthen the capacity of the private sector

To strengthen the capacity of the private sector to do participate in the market for electronic services worldwide.

Action items

i. Build capacity to recognize global business opportunities, and establish partnerships and joint ventures in the fields of software engineering and >back-office= electronic support

• Encourage SMEs to train and/or hire ICT specialists by providing incentives of various sorts, including affordable credit, fiscal and cash incentives

ii. Building the capacity to develop and market appropriate software locally, regionally and internationally using the Internet

• Help SMEs use business to business e-commerce tools
• Help SMEs develop a Web presence
• Include corporate profiles of participating SMEs in the ICT Development Agency Web portal

iii. Building the capacity to provide >back-office= electronic support to clients around the corner and around the world over the Internet

• Undertake a feasibility study to determine the entry costs, possible niches and comparative advantages that Mongolia has that permit it to compete in this and other markets

c) Establish consumer to business e-commerce

The objective is to build the capacity of entrepreneurs to provide consumer to business e-commerce: buying and selling goods and services over the Internet

Action items

i. Support and strengthen the efforts of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry to provide these services

ii. Develop training courses in e-commerce tailored to the needs and circumstances of Mongolian SMEs

iii. Develop these courses in collaboration with other agencies such as UNCTAD, the WTO and the international community

iv. Develop the financial mechanisms to permit online commerce

d) Establish business to business e-commerce

The objective is to build the capacity of the private sector to use and apply business to business e-commerce solutions to facilitate transactions.

Action items

i. Support and strengthen the efforts of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry to provide these services and to raise awareness about their importance

ii. In support of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and of others, including FIFTA, provide training in e-commerce tailored to the needs and circumstances of Mongolian SMEs

iii. Develop these courses in collaboration with other agencies such as UNCTAD, the WTO and the international community

iv. Introduce and demonstrate the application of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI): standards that will facilitate computer to computer exchange of business documents such as purchase orders, shipping documents, custom forms, invoices, invoice payments, etc., between different companies computers using phone lines and especially the Internet. EDI is used for placing orders, for billing and for paying for goods and services via private electronic networks and via the Internet using secure transaction protocols such as SSL. See http://www.edi-info-center.com/html/hotline.html.

v. Train of a core group of government, banking and private sector business people in e-commerce applications, including consumer to business e-commerce and especially business to business e-commerce. 

vi. Provide technical training in establishing secure servers using secure socket layer (SSL),  and/or other appropriate technologies

vii. In collaboration with the Chamber of Commerce and FIFTA, raise awareness and strengthen the capacity of the business community and especially of the banking and financial sectors in their ability to establish and take advantage of secure electronic financial transactions nationally and internationally. 

e) Support the development of ICT businesses

Specifically, help local entrepreneurs launch businesses that use and/or that are based on the provision of electronic goods and services. See also under the objectives on Education and training

Action items

i. Establish an investment fund to help entrepreneurs / small companies that have invested in certifying staff build ICT applications into their business

ii. Create business incubators for ICT start-ups, i.e. newly established companies working in the ICT market

f) Strengthen the banking and financial systems

To lobby and encourage the government and banks and financial institutions to provide world class electronic services in support of the Action Plan. Considerable effort is being made to address this situation.

g) Develop a Mongolian business gateway

The ICT Development Agency is to help this happen in collaboration with others, including the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Foreign Investment and Foreign Trade Agency (FIFTA)

Action items

i. Encourage Mongolian SMEs and other businesses to register their businesses on the Web and to participate in the creation of a Mongolian business gateway or portal on the Internet. 

ii. Develop a business services gateway. Other countries have done so, for example: the government of Canada (see the >Strategis= site of Industry Canada for example )

iii. Develop interactive and value added applications for Mongolian Internet sites

iv. Create, in collaboration with the Mongolia National Tourism Center Government Implementing Agency, a Mongolia tourism portal.