"After SARS, these became regular business channels," Huang Wen-rong, director of the Internet department at the China External Trade Development Council (CETRA) Taiwan, said to the news daily Taipei Times.
CETRA's internet-based trading site, TaiwanTrade.com.tw saw a 20 per cent rise in transactions during April-September, directly attributed to SARS, Huang added.
SARS quarantines and closures have also driven Taiwanese companies to outsource to more partners, lowering the risk of supply chain disruptions, according to Simon Lim, chairman of Acer manufacturing spin-off Wistron Corp.
A government official warned that Taiwanese companies were still not doing enough business online.
It is essential for Taiwan IT companies to get used to the e-business environment and to stay competitive in uncertain global conditions, Huang Chih-peng, the director-general of the Bureau of Foreign Trade Huang, Taiwan said to the Taipei Times.
In 2002, slightly over 60 per cent of Taiwanese companies did business over the Internet and only 36 per cent had Web sites, according to George Wei of the E-commerce Resources Center at the government-linked Institute for Information Industry in Taipei, Taiwan.
Taiwan was ranked as the No. 3 SARS hotspot in the world and international business travel to the country slowed severely during the crisis.
SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome)--the flulike virus which spread across several Asian countries in April and May this year--caused dozens of deaths and slowing down Asian economies.
It also caused sharp decreases in tourism and consumer spending in countries such as China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore.
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