S. Korea to export online trade support system to Uzbekistan

By Lee Joon-seung

SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will export its online trade support service system to Uzbekistan, helping companies cut administrative costs and boost competitiveness, the government said Tuesday.

The Ministry of Knowledge Economy said the "uTradeHub" is part of an
electronic commerce consulting support package that South Korea is providing for
the Central Asian country.

"The export of the operating system is an important first that can help
attract other overseas users," a ministry official said.

The Korea Trade Network is responsible for installation and consulting.

Opened on July 29, the uTradeHub is the world's first operational online commerce
system designed to incorporate all trade-related paperwork into a single
Internet-based application.

The ministry said it is the culmination of nearly 20 years of research, and can
produce export bill purchase negotiations (e-Nego), a bill of lading (e-B/L) and
a letter of credit (e-L/C) that can help improve productivity.

The uTradeHub can also help small- and medium-sized enterprises, which do not
have the resources to set up their own internal paperless business systems, cut
logistics costs and facilitate the settlement of accounts.

In addition to the deal with Uzbekistan, the government is engaged in talks with
other foreign countries to discuss more sales of the system.

South Korea is a leader in online commerce and trade, having been the first in
the world to open an e-L/C service in 2005. It won recognition as a global
trendsetter in the field at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum,
where it said that it will take steps to incorporate e-commerce with radio
frequency identification tags, ubiquitous sensor networks and Wibro.