ASEAN to sign IT pact

ASEAN to sign IT pact

SINGAPORE (AFP): ASEAN leaders are to sign an "e-ASEAN framework agreement" during their Singapore summit this week, to link their electronic information systems, a Singapore trade ministry statement said on Tuesday.

The e-ASEAN agreement, which has been under development since 1998, is seen as setting up a "free trade area for goods, services and investments for the information-communications industries" the statement said.

The agreement, to be signed by the leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Friday was a sign of "ASEAN's commitment to face the challenges posed by the new economy."

ASEAN economic ministers who completed a draft of the e-ASEAN agreement in October have called on member countries to "accelerate the implementation of the agreement by 2002" if they can.