S'pore dotcom business up

S'pore dotcom business up

SINGAPORE (AP): The number of private sector businesses going online has increased more than 50 times in the past five years to about 16,000 Web sites in Singapore, a government official said on Thursday.

The rise shows that the government's drive to "dot-com" the entire nation is gaining ground, said Lim Swee Say, minister of state for communications and information technology.

Singapore's government aggressively promotes Internet technology and e-commerce as keys to future prosperity in the affluent city-state, which has 3.2 million people and no natural resources.

The government hopes to transform the island republic - historically a vital shipping center - into an Asia-Pacific hub for Internet commerce and high-tech communications.