ASEAN urged to speed up electronic linkage

ASEAN urged to speed up electronic linkage

Agence France-Presse, Singapore

ASEAN must accelerate plans to wire up the region electronically, Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong said on Thursday, but spelled out formidable challenges the 10-nation regional bloc must overcome.

Goh, speaking before Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) information and communication ministers, said electronic linkage will be a "powerful catalyst" for the group's ambitions to establish a common regional market.

Goh, backed by Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, has previously said he will push to speed up the creation of an ASEAN common market from the original target of 2020 during a leaders' summit on the Indonesian resort island of Bali next month.

"We must press ahead with e-ASEAN. In fact, I would argue for efforts to be accelerated," he said in a keynote address to the two-day meeting that began on Thursday.

"Because of the changing global environment and rapid advancements in ICT (information and communications technology), e-ASEAN is even more relevant today."

Southeast Asian leaders four years ago launched e-ASEAN, which aims to create the physical, legal and commercial infrastructure needed to grow the ICT sector and electronic commerce in the region.

However, the wide disparity in the levels of economic development among ASEAN's 10 members have been a key stumbling bloc in efforts to bridge the so-called digital divide.

ASEAN's membership ranges from economic tiger Singapore and more developed countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia, to impoverished nations such as Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

Goh listed six areas where ASEAN will need to take action to allow easier access to the Internet and increase the public's knowledge and ability to use computers and programs.

"First, we should continue to focus on providing our people access to a pervasive and reliable information and communications infrastructure," he said.

The Singaporean leader, whose country has one of the highest usage of the Internet and mobile phones in Asia, said the number of telephone lines in many ASEAN countries were still "way below the average for the Asia-Pacific region".

"Improving access to ICT will lead to better sharing of information, the growth of e-commerce, stronger links between people and markets, and consequently, closer economic integration within ASEAN," he said.

ASEAN countries must also give priority to Internet literacy, he said, warning that "if the people are not ICT-savvy, they risk being left out in the knowledge economy".

He said Southeast Asia must work to harmonize regulations in the ICT sector to entice telecommunications operators to participate in a fully liberalized market.

Rules must be clear, transparent and predictable, he added.

ASEAN must also build linkages in the ICT arena with countries outside the region, such as India, Japan, South Korea and China, because developments in these giant markets affect the region.

The grouping should embrace the use of technology to improve productivity, efficiency and competitiveness through the use of broadband services, wireless networking, personal digital assistants and mobile phones.

"Last and perhaps most importantly, we need to protect our information and communications networks from intentional harm and degradation," he said.

Goh cited the global virus attacks last month which wrought havoc on the world's computer systems and cost an estimated US$800 million in damage.

He said ASEAN "should develop a common and sustained approach to the security of our telecommunications and computer networks, so that we can enjoy the fruits of a fully connected region".