Internet use taking root in ASEAN: e-ASEAN Task Force head<\/p>\n
Martin Abbugao
\nAgence France-Presse
\nBandar Seri Begawan<\/p>\n
Internet use is taking root in governments, schools and with
\nthe public in Southeast Asia despite impediments such as poor
\ninfrastructure and the need for more training, the head of the e-
\nASEAN Task Force said.<\/p>\n
From depressed Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia to high-tech
\nSingapore and Malaysia, progress has been achieved since the
\nprivate sector-led task force was formed in 1999 and an e-ASEAN
\nAgreement was signed the following year, Roberto Romulo said in
\nan interview with AFP.<\/p>\n
Speaking on the fringes of the ASEAN economic ministers
\nmeeting here, Romulo recalled that during a summit in Manila in
\n1999 some ASEAN leaders were \"puzzled\" when he made a
\npresentation on the use of information and communications
\ntechnology (ICT).<\/p>\n
Since then, Myanmar has inaugurated an information technology
\npark, Vietnam's Communist Party Congress has recognized ICT as a
\ndriving force for economic progress, bureaucracies have taken
\nsteps to computerize operations and Internet cafes have sprung
\neven in ASEAN's poorer members.<\/p>\n
Other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
\nare Brunei, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.<\/p>\n
This year, the task force's pilot projects have been geared
\ntoward helping government bureaucracies computerize operations in
\nstate-owned banks as well as in processing passports and drivers'
\nlicenses, he said.<\/p>\n
Middle-level managers from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam
\nwere brought to tech-savvy Singapore for training, he said.<\/p>\n
\"Have we moved forward? Yes, we have moved forward,\" said
\nRomulo, a former Philippine foreign minister and now one of
\nManila's top corporate executives.<\/p>\n
\"We have progressed, but if you are saying 'is the
\ninfrastructure there in every country?' well the answer is no.<\/p>\n
\"If you go to Siem Reap (Cambodia), the only way I can get an
\ne-mail is at an Internet cafe, something like 12 bps or even
\nslower. But you got it, slow but you got it.<\/p>\n
\"You go to Singapore and you name it, you can get any speed
\nyou want. So it varies but there is access to the Internet.
\nThat's the beginning,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The business sector-led task force will be dissolved this year
\nand Romulo suggested to the ministers during a presentation this
\nweek that his group's work should be made an integral part of
\nASEAN where the ministers in charge of ICT or telecoms should
\ntake the lead.<\/p>\n
He recommended the formation of an e-ASEAN Council composed of
\ntelecom or ICT ministers to act as the collective executive body,
\nsupported by a coordinating committee of senior officials.<\/p>\n
An e-ASEAN Center -- similar to the Jakarta-based ASEAN Center
\nfor Energy -- should act as a think tank for the body.<\/p>\n
With a tight budget, boosted by grants from the business
\ncommunity and multilateral institutions like the World Bank,
\nteams from the task force's secretariat preached the Internet
\ngospel in seminars to schools and governments and started pilot
\nprojects.<\/p>\n
The task force also gave policy advice on how to proceed with
\n\"model laws\" on the ICT sector, as well as on intellectual
\nproperty rights, cyber laws and online security.<\/p>\n
Poor telecommunications infrastructure, high
\ntelecommunications costs and lack of skills remain key
\nchallenges.<\/p>\n
\"But every year there is movement forward. And now I think the
\nleaders of each country are starting to understand how important
\nthis is,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Romulo, a former top executive at IBM, said the Internet is a
\nkey tool in ASEAN's dream of regional economic integration and in
\nthe regional bloc's competition with China.<\/p>\n
\"Malaysia went out of the way to help Yangon to get its IT
\npark. Malaysia has been going to Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and
\nVietnam trying to upgrade them. Singapore is the same story,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"We must move on, especially if we want to take on our friends
\nin China. That's the political imperative.\"<\/p>\n
Romulo identified human resource development as the main
\nchallenge, saying that \"to get to the knowledge based society,
\nyou have to start from primary school all the way up.\"<\/p>",
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