ASEAN information ministers meet

ASEAN information ministers meet

HANOI (AFP): Information ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations launched two days of talks here Thursday amid efforts to forge a common IT policy despite huge differences among member states.

ASEAN secretary general Rodolfo Severino said the organization was keen to help poorer members develop their information technology industries.

But he acknowledged some were loath to abandon the tight controls they have traditionally maintained over information despite the mounting pace of technological change.

"We will try to help those countries that are behind in terms of expertise so they will not get further behind," he said. "But it's up to each country ... we can't force anyone."

Host nation Vietnam is among those ASEAN members which have sought to retain a tight control over information, even as they have developed new software parks in a bid to attract investment from IT firms.

The authorities here continue to operate firewalls on the Internet which block access to websites they find objectionable, such as those of the emigre opposition.

"Information and the right to access to information have become an urgent need for all nations," Vietnam's Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Manh Cam told delegates in his opening address.

But he added that this should not come at the expense of either "national sovereignty" or the "will of the people." "We need to join efforts to seek effective solutions for concerted management under a mutually agreed order that conforms to the will of our peoples and to the respect for national sovereignty," he said.

At a meeting in Thailand last week, ASEAN economic ministers agreed a framework agreement for development of the Internet as part of the organization's efforts to keep pace with its northern neighbors as China moves towards World Trade Organization membership.

The agreement, which is due to be signed in Singapore next month, sets out a common policy framework for the Internet as well as measures to strengthen infrastructure and human resources, Severino said.

The information ministers were also due to discuss measures to improve ASEAN's image amid mounting criticism of its ineffectiveness in the face of the continuing crisis in Myanmar.

The meeting would "approve important projects to enhance ASEAN's image .... and encourage the role of ASEAN as an increasingly influential regional grouping in the Asia-Pacific region and the world," Cam said.