News

Singapore Startup Offers Print Services Online
Sally Taylor -- 10/16/00
Billing itself as world's first cross-border print exchange, Global Print Exchange is made an Approved Cyber Trader (ACT) by Singapore government



Global Print Exchange Pte. Ltd. in Singapore, billing itself as the world's first cross-border print exchange, was made an Approved Cyber Trader (ACT) recently by the Singapore government. As one of only three companies so far to qualify for the designation, it will now pay only 10% in taxes, instead of the normal 26%. As with most cyber startups, so far there is little income to pay taxes against. But the plans hold promise for U.S. book publishers printing in Asia.

Patrick Lee, a director of Global Print Exchange, explained, "We have invested millions of dollars in developing a sophisticated Internet exchange that will revolutionize the way print will be bought, sold and serviced in Asia." The company is in the process of introducing free localized print procurement services between print buyers and service providers in Singapore, Malaysia and the rest of Asia.

"This will enable printers and related companies to gain experience in print e-commerce so that they are in a better position to exploit cross-border printing through the Internet with GPE in the near future," Lee said. "Our target is to patent at least one major innovative feature every three months. We also expect to be one of the few B2B exchanges that will be profitable within its first year of operation."

But the company's eventual target is U.S. book publishers, who buy over $500 million in printing from Asia each year.

The company is also setting up India's first B2B print exchange and will go public on the Indian stock exchange in the next nine months. Brig. Gen. (Ret.) D.P. Sivam of Print Exchange India reported "a vast potential for such a print-related service through the Internet in India. Furthermore, it will be an excellent avenue for printers from India to be innovative in exporting print and published products to customers in the U.S. and Europe."

For details, contact Andrew Pang at andrew@printexasia.com.sg or check out the Web site: www.printexasia.com.