NMI eyes increased participation in e-commerce

Efforts are now underway to keep the Northern Marianas abreast with the latest electronic innovation in enhancing commerce as House Speaker Benigno R. Fitial yesterday called for increased CNMI participation in the digital trade.

Speaking before members of the Society for Human Resource Management, Mr. Fitial said the CNMI should be in the same playing field as most of the world’s economies which are currently driven by technological improvement.

“We will have to work hard to encourage the kind of business that will benefit our people.
It can be done. In fact, it must be done if we expect to expand our economy in the digital age,” he said.

Mr. Fitial stressed the need for the Commonwealth to increase its participation in electronic trade and digital technology primarily because the respective economy of all the 50 American states is increasingly driven by computer.

“If we are to keep strong economic as well as government ties with the rest of the U.S., we will have to expand our involvement in e-commerce and digital technology,” he said.

Northern Marianas consumers currently account for big volume of imported items purchased from the mainland U.S. through transactions in the Internet despite the absence of local laws that protect them from e-commerce shams.

Government officials expect a sharp increase in the volume of imported items purchased through the Internet following the participation of the Commonwealth in the largest international fight against e-commerce swindling.

The project is being advanced by a strong coalition of 143 organizations from 27 countries around the world, including seven U.S. federal agencies, 49 state and local consumer protection agencies and 39 Better Business Bureaus.

Internet-related auction frauds are regarded by federal authorities as the fastest-growing type of fraud in the country.

Business observers said the international partnership against e-commerce racketeers would be especially beneficial to CNMI consumers who regularly purchase goods from the mainland U.S. through electronic shopping websites.

The Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection previously disclosed that anti-Internet shopping fraud advocates from all over the world have already documented activities of suspected e-commerce swindlers.

Everyday, millions of Internet users receive too many “trash mails” containing a variety of information ranging from bad credit rehabilitation to auctions of products that were actually not existing.

The global coalition of anti-Internet fraud is conveying a strong message that the group would relentlessly and untiringly monitor suspicious websites that threaten the safety of electronic shoppers from the world over.

Called GetRichQuick.Con, the project was conducted during the week of February 28 by organizations as diverse as the Hong Kong Consumer Council and the University of Texas Law School.

Members surf the Net looking for bogus work-at-home offers, business opportunity scams, pyramid schemes, illegal lotteries and other web sites offering easy roads to riches.

Information on suspicious websites are submitted directly into a database administered by the FTC in Washington D.C. FTC then sends warning e-mails to the targeted sites.

Members of the coalition will continue to monitor the sites to see if changes in claims have been made in response to FTC’s warnings that a coordinated law enforcement effort will be undertaken to shut down the sites that are not responsive to the law.