A massive 98.7 percent of Singapore companies have Internet connections, and business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce is expected to be worth 109 billion Singapore dollars

A massive 98.7 percent of Singapore companies have Internet connections, and business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce is expected to be worth 109 billion Singapore dollars ($59.89 billion) this year, according to a government survey. The survey, conducted by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and the Department of Statistics, revealed a large jump in business e-commerce activity during the past two years. Of the 9,000 companies surveyed, 98.7 percent had Net connections, enabling them to access e-government services, as well as to buy and sell online. B2B e-commerce in Singapore has grown from 40 billion Singapore dollars ($21.98 billion) in 1999 to an estimated 92 billion Singapore dollars ($50.56 billion) in 2000, according to the survey. The survey also found that international B2B trading - with neighbors like Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, China, South Korea and Japan - is taking off. Business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce sales have also rocketed in the past year. Online sales to consumers reached only 200 million Singapore dollars ($109.91 million) in 1999. But in 2000 this figure was 1.17 billion dollars ($643 million), and this year sales are expected to more than double to 2.75 billion dollars ($1.51 billion).