The increased use of electronic communications improves the efficiency of commercial activities, enhances trade connections and allows new access opportunities for previously remote parties and markets, thus playing a fundamental role in promoting trade and economic development, both domestically and internationally … 
- UN Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts
LexEcon eSME Initiative is a pro bono project launched in December, 2010 with the following objectives.
Key objectives:
>> Promoting the use of electronic transactions among SMEs as an ICT tool to improve productivity and increase competitiveness in national and global markets
>> Facilitating the adoption of e-signatures and e-contracting as a means to fill the gaps in office automation operations
>> Enhancing the positive environmental contribution of SMEs by helping them to go fully paperless in internal approval processes, invoicing, and business agreements & contracts
>> Supporting SMEs to achieve UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 by facilitating them to ensure environmental sustainability and develop global partnerships for development through e-contracting.
Why focus on SMEs ?
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are critical to the economies of all countries. SMEs represent over 90% of enterprises in most countries worldwide, and account for 60 to 70 percent of all employment in developing countries (WIPO and UNCTAD).
During the past two decades, by adopting e-commerce practices, SMEs worldwide have gained considerable progress in increasing profits and improving their relationship with customers and suppliers. This has been made possible thanks to the enabling legislation on electronic payments and a number of SME 'e-readiness' initiatives launched by various government, non-governmental and multilateral institutions.
Despite certain cross-border legislative differences that impede international transactions, national legislatures have enacted electronic transaction laws based on the UNCITRAL* model laws on e-commerce and e-signatures, and the Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts. (*UN Commission on International Trade Law).
Nevertheless, SMEs in developing countries in particular have not been able to take sufficient advantage of the benefits offered by e-commerce techniques owing to reasons such as higher costs of access to the Internet, language barriers, the lack of understanding of the legal and technical aspects relating to electronic transactions, etc. Therefore SMEs in these countries are yet to experience the efficiency benefits offered by electronic contracting and electronic signature solutions in creating partnerships with new businesses and suppliers, both nationally and globally.
Why e-Contracting for SMEs ?
Contracts form the foundation of any enterprise by representing most business relationships throughout their lifecycle, for instance, from procurement to sales; employment to partnerships and franchising.
Electronic (e) contracting simply means the use of electronic communications in the formation or performance of a contract between parties whose places of business are in the same State or in different States.
e-Contracting can improve the efficiency of commercial transactions either by eliminating or minimizing costs associated with paper-based transactions, i.e. by saving travelling costs & time, paper wastage, records management costs, postage or overnight courier charges. More importantly e-Contracting is a much greener solution.
How do modern businesses do e-Contracting ?
The more secure and cost-effective way is to use a globally trusted electronic or digital signature scheme in compliance with the relevant national law. For the benefit of our valued clients, we have helped them sign business contracts securely online by using one of the world-class e-signature solutions provided by Secured Signing Ltd (New Zealand and Australia) and EchoSign (Adobe Inc) of USA. Please visit LexEcon eContracting Zone for more information.
Our commitment …
In order to achieve the above-mentioned objectives, we have mobilized our resources, including those of our partner companies, to be made available to aspiring SMEs. LexEcon eSME Initiative services include free legal support on e-contract negotiation and formation, signing e-contracts by using secure electronic & digital signature free trials, and performance of e-contracts. For more information on eContracting, please visit Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).
We kindly invite SMEs and their Associations to contact us and make use of the above-mentioned legal support services.
Our Global Partner
The International Network for SMEs
Making Innovation Happen
Business Network for Free Online Invoicing and Communication
Tradeshift (http://tradeshift.com) is a free invoicing tool. It is web-based and works with all browsers. It is tailored for any company that wants to send and receive invoices electronically. With Tradeshift you can gather your business network in one location and keep all communication regarding each business transaction in one place.
The importance of Tradeshift to e-Contracting is the possibility of network partners to exchange messages about their intention to e-contract (i.e. prior agreement to contract electronically, not the e-contract that is to be concluded outside the Tradeshift network). A prior agreement to e-contract may be in connection with either a single transaction or a series of transactions taking place in the normal course of doing business between the network partners. To the extent permitted by law, the parties to an e-contract may agree that in the event of a dispute, the records of EDI Messages taken from the Tradeshift site, shall be admissible before courts or arbitral tribunals as evidence of the facts contained therein.
(Please note that LexEcon Consulting Group and Tradeshift are two different independent companies and that there is no relationship existing between the two institutions).
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