(26 AUGUST 2002, HONG KONG) The Pan-Asian E-Commerce Alliance (PAA) held its 9^th Steering Committee Meeting in Hong Kong from 22 to 23 August 2002. The meeting was attended by Tradelink, CrimsonLogic, Infoshare, KTNET, Trade-Van, TEDI Club and DagangNet. Representatives from TEDMEV of Macau attended the meeting as observers by invitation.

Speaking on behalf of the Alliance after the meeting, Mr. Justin Yue, Chairman of the PAA and CEO of Tradelink said, "We are extremely pleased with the significant progress we made in our various projects since our last meeting in Singapore. Under our Certification Authority Mutual Recognition Scheme, recognition has just been granted to TradeSign of Korea. That makes a total of 4 Certification Authorities recognised under the Scheme." Certification Authorities previously recognised include Digi-Sign of Hong Kong, TaiCA of Taiwan, and Netrust of Singapore. Application for recognition has also been received from CIECC's Certification Authority in China and recognition is expected to be granted prior to the next PAA Steering Committee Meeting in November 2002.

Members of the PAA noted the progress they were making with the pilot of the Secure Cross Border Transaction Service. Given the momentum being created, the Steering Committee focused on the way to expand the commercial documents set, such as Bills of Lading, to meet the needs of users.

CrimsonLogic delivered a demonstration on the latest version of the Pan-Asian Portal, www.paa.net. The PAA Steering Committee agreed to release the Portal to the public. The PAA is committed to make this the most informative gateway that all traders around the world can use.

Other initiatives and co-operation possibilities discussed by the Steering Committee include:

Asked about his impression on attending the PAA Steering Committee Meeting for the first time, Mr. Mathew Cheong, Managing Director of TEDMEV, said he was very impressed with the relevance of what the PAA is doing in relation to what TEDMEV is trying to achieve in Macau. "I think we will definitely want to work more closely with the PAA by participating in the various PAA projects. Perhaps some time next year, we hope we will be in a position to apply for membership in the PAA."

Tradelink hosted a welcome dinner for the 9^th PAA Steering Committee, at which Mr. Francis Ho, Permanent Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology of the Hong Kong SAR Government was the Guest of Honour. In his welcome note to the PAA members, Mr. Ho reaffirmed the support of the Hong Kong SAR Government for the direction and work of the PAA, noting in particular that Tradelink was set up with the full support of the Government.

The 10^th Steering Committee Meeting of the PAA will be held in Tokyo, Japan on 21-22 November, 2002.

For press enquiries, please contact Tradelink (Corporate Communications) on 2599 1686.