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.