eBay President and CEO Meg Whitman expressed her confidence in the Indian e-commerce market on her maiden visit to the country and stated it was the fastest growing online marketplace in the Asia-Pacific region and among the top three fastest growing worldwide.

Head of the world’s biggest online auction portal, Whitman, 49, has made eBay, which witnesses more trading daily than the Nasdaq and the NYSE combined, arguably the world’s most valuable internet brand today.

Ensuring a consistent flow of profits, Ms Whitman has an impressive blue-chip resume with stints at Walt Disney Company, Bain & Company and Hasbro, among others. She also serves on the boards of Procter & Gamble and Dreamworks Animation.

“eBay here reminds me of eBay in the US around 1998-99. India is still six-seven years behind the US and about three-four years behind Europe,” Ms Whitman said in a press conference here on February 23.

“In most countries where eBay has a presence, the environment is fairly hospitable with simple tax structures and government legislation is also conducive to facilitating online trade. India is quite a good place to do business in this respect,” she added.

Already looking to the future, Ms Whitman said that plans are afoot to launch many applications for the mobile handset.

( www.finacialexpress.com)