the spotlight as a leader in offshore e-business, writes Kim Dismont Robinson .

The conference, which will take place February 22 to 24, is being sponsored by First Atlantic Commerce (Bermuda) and organised by International Business Communications (IBC). Topics to be addressed at the conference include the impact of international e-commerce credit card transactions, assessing offshore and e-business liabilities, and utilising trademark and intellectual property law in offshore e-business.

UN Commission on International Trade Laws secretary Gerold Herrmann will be offering the keynote address on the "Impact of International Trade Laws on the New Global Commerce''.

The conference follows a successful sold-out conference in New York last September.

Elizabeth Wetherbee, IBC financial division conference manager, said she was "very excited'' to be working with Bermuda business professionals, and gave credit to Appleby Spurling & Kempe lawyer Warren Cabral for suggesting the conference topic.

"I'd like to see the conference become a regular thing, since people are paying more attention to where they're launching (offshore businesses) from, and why,'' said Miss Wetherbee.

Bermuda headed for major Miami e-commerce conference "Bermuda has been a leader in this area -- and in my experience, other jurisdictions are looking to Singapore, Ireland and Bermuda as role models.

"A number of other jurisdictions are jumping on this quickly, and will be competitive with Bermuda over the next year or so -- especially Curacao, the British Virgin Islands, and Cayman,'' she added.

Some of the Bermuda participants at this year's conference include BIBA, Appleby Spurling & Kempe, Bank of Bermuda, Bank of N.T. Butterfield, Cable and Wireless, Emerald Financial and TeleBermuda International.

Greg Vasic, president of First Atlantic Commerce, said the company had a marketing database of 10,000 people who they've talked to about e-commerce in the past eighteen months, and it was hoped the conference would tap into the growing market of those interested in e-business.

He noted that the New York conference was "massively successful'', and stated: "We see these conferences as a key means to get the message about offshore e-commerce out to the world.'' "Offshore and international e-commerce is a new and growing area, and a key means of educating potential clients to the opportunities via conferences.'' And Mr. Vasic added that the conference "ties into what Bermuda as a country is trying to do, in terms of getting the word out about offshore e-commerce -- we're very keen on it''.

Mr. Vasic will be chairing the pre-conference primer entitled "Offshore E-Commerce: Creating a Template for Success''.

Telecommunications Minister Renee Webb said "E-commerce is such a topical issue -- people want to know what's happening in the industry and they want to market their company, and it's something that countries are looking at to diversify their economies.'' Ms Webb said following the New York conference, she had seen a draft of Cayman Island's legislation and it was an "exact copy'' of Bermuda's legislation.

"We were out there at the fore and so people will copy our legislation.

"That's not unusual, but that's what's going on -- we're ahead of the pack,'' she added.