NEWS: Asian, Pacific nations to promote e-commerce

["Frederick Noronha" <fred@bytesforall.org>]

Asian, Pacific nations to promote e-commerce

>From Indo-Asian News Service

New Delhi, Nov 23 (IANS) Asian and Pacific countries have resolved to 
make e-commerce accessible and affordable to all citizens, 
particularly under-privileged groups.  

The resolution was an outcome of the three-day discussions at the 
joint UNCTAD-UNESCAP Asia-Pacific Conference on e-commerce strategies 
for development in Bangkok, according to a statement issued here 
Saturday. Over 150 participants attended the conference.  

Under the Declaration on Electronic Commerce for Development signed 
Friday, the countries in the Asian and Pacific region have agreed to 
take necessary steps to promote the use of e-commerce throughout the 
region. Such a step is bound to benefit the maximum number of 
inhabitants.  

Delivering his vision statement for e-commerce strategies, Thai Prime 
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra noted that "only through broad and 
sustained efforts of intensified cooperation in regional and 
international forum, based on mutual interests, can globalisation be 
made fully inclusive and equitable"."  

"Global business-to-consumer e-commerce is projected to grow from $50 
billion in 2000 to $233 billion dollars by 2004," said Kim Hak-Su, 
executive secretary of United Nations Economic and Social Council for 
Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).  

"Forecasts for total business-to-business transactions range from 
$1.2 billion to $10 trillion by 2003. Yet the current reality is that 
less than seven percent of the world's population is presently 
online," he said.  

Although some countries in the Asian and Pacific region are full 
participants in this growing sector, many others are being left 
behind.  

An ESCAP survey has reported huge disparities in Internet access 
across the region. In a least-developed country, only 0.1 per 1,000 
of the population had Internet access and 0.2 per 100 inhabitants had 
a fixed telephone line.  

"Inequality within countries is increasingly a function of unequal 
access to information," said UNCTAD Secretary-General Rubens 
Ricupero.  

"Still, this year alone, about 155 million people - one third of them 
living and working in developing countries - will join the so-called 
'Internet Population'."  

China's Internet population is already the world's third largest.  

The declaration is a step forward in correcting the imbalance between 
the digital have and have-nots.  

While recognizing the fact that urgent action is needed to narrow the 
gap in e-commerce, the declaration also acknowledges that national 
information and communication technologies (ICT) and e-commerce 
strategies must be based on the economic and social context of each 
UNESCAP member and associate-member.  

In this context the participants have resolved to strengthen 
cooperation and commit themselves to "developing ICT and e-commerce 
architecture that is accessible and affordable to all citizens, 
particularly under-privileged groups."  

The United Nations, through the efforts of UNESCAP, Unite Nations 
Conference on Trade and Development(UNCTAD) and others is committed 
to realising the Millennium Development Goals. One of the prominent 
being the commitment of member states to "ensure that the benefits of 
new technologies, especially information and communication 
technologies, are available to all."  

-Indo-Asian News Service