Commonwealth e-business conference to take place in SA

The Commonwealth Business Council is to hold its next e-business conference in Johannesburg after its immensely successful conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2000. The conference will be held on 18 to 20 June 2001 at the Sandton Sun Hotel, Johannesburg.

The focus of this conference will be the transition from a manual to electronic business environment. This transition implies nothing short of a transformation. The conference seeks to understand these transformations and how businesses are being affected in the Commonwealth. But not just restricted to businesses in the Commonwealth. Governments are being affected by these transformations as well. The question in the minds of government, business leaders and decision-makers is how best can governments and businesses prepare themselves?

This conference will help you answer that question and provide you with actionable tools, contacts and information. The valuable insight and analysis from our speakers will help you maintain - or regain - your competitive-edge. If you`ve attended a CBC event then you know how critical your presence is to your own business decisions. There will also be a "Technology Marketplace" for displays of new products and e-services by several leading companies. To make the most of your time, you need contacts. The CBC can make that happen. Throughout the conference you will find unparalleled opportunities to meet all the players - decision-makers in business and government.

This conference provides an opportunity for business to influence government policy by airing their views in the presence of government policy and decision-makers. The results and views of this conference will be reflected in a document to be presented to the Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) meeting in Brisbane, Australia in October 2001. "This conference shows our commitment to be at the cutting-edge and to link business views into government policy formulation," said Lord Cairns, Chairman CDC Capital Partners and Chairman CBC.

Just some of the players represented at the conference include ministers from South Africa, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Malaysia; government agencies such as the Department of Trade and Industry, UK, Industry Canada; businesses including Johnnic, Microsoft, Econet, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Izodia, Crown Agents; consultancies and law firms including Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Sapient and Mayer Brown & Platt, to name a few.

"The CBC is determined to make the most of the `Commonwealth factor`, particularly in the world of e-business, to promote trade and investment and this conference will be another step in that direction," said Dr Mohan Kaul, Director-General, Commonwealth Business Council.