Though e-commerce is thriving around the world, its volume in developing countries would remain "negligible" as long as the business-to-business (B2B) end of the market does not take off, warns the UN Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad). In its '2002 E-Commerce and Development Report', released in Geneva on Monday, the UN trade body notes that the route to a prosperous B2B sector and its attendant benefits for the economy at large lies in joining regional and global supply chains. Prospects for that supervening are "good", especially given that the rapid growth in both e-commerce and Internet use is likely to continue, it said adding that this applies particularly to the developing countries where penetration rates are lower.