Bolero and its new partner in the Middle East and North Africa, Eastern Networks, have set about persuading businesses in the region of the benefits that might follow if paper-based trade finance functions were migrated online.

Bolero Middle East and North Africa (Bolero MENA) is a joint venture between Eastern Networks, a Dubai-based IT solution developer and integrator, and Bolero International, the global company that claims to provide secure electronic document transfer systems for global trade.

Global benefits

According to Hussein Rifai, CEO of Bolero MENA, businesses in the Middle East need to adopt more advanced solutions to integrate physical and financial supply chains if they are to

stay ahead in the global marketplace. "Unless these companies move to dedicated online document transfer platforms, they will not only lose money but also find themselves part of a business community that refuses to shake off traditional ideas of doing business," he said.

The joint venturers' drive to win new business in the region stresses that Bolero is not a payment system, but a platform for a shared, open system that works on all computer systems and over which businesses can exchange legal trade documents and data via the Internet. A company statement explains that the system acts as a neutral party to ensure secure delivery and receipt of information and provides a legal structure that binds all parties.

L/C compatibility

In this context Bolero MENA points out that the system can exist to support electronic versions of letters of credit (L/Cs). A company statement clamims that online trade financing instruments including L/Cs are already "helping companies speed up the process and reduce the cost of facilitating international trade."

Bolero MENA was launched in May 2002 to boost electronic trade in 21 countries in the region, by offering the bolero.net System from Bolero International, the global company that provides a secure electronic document transfer for global trade. Bolero MENA is based at the Dubai Internet City with four regional offices in Cairo, Riyadh, Amman and Istanbul.

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