MANILA -- Small and medium enterprises or SMEs need faster internet to help them expand their e-commerce reach, according to a study released Thursday by logistics provider FedEx.

While 96 percent of SMEs use electronic channels, online sales account for 52 percent of total revenues according to FedEx's "Global is the New Local: The Changing International Trade Patterns of Small Businesses in Asia Pacific."

Faster internet will "enhance the ability of SMEs to compete in the global market place," said FedEx Philippines managing director John Peterson.

"We see the global trade footprint of Philippine SMEs is moving further afield. They start to think bigger in this thriving digital economy," he said.

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Eighty-nine percent of SMEs in the Philippines import through e-commerce channels, according to the FedEx study, which included 500 local SMEs and a total 4,000 in the Asia-Pacific.

Sixty-nine percent of Filipino SMEs export to Asia Pacific region with China, Singapore and Hong Kong as the top markets, according to the study.

India and the US are the top export destination outside the Asia Pacific, it said.