APEC Digital Opportunity Centre (ADOC) Week 2007

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I would like to begin by thanking Chinese Taipei, and the ADOC Secretariat for organizing ADOC Week 2007, and for extending the invitation to attend this significant event.

I am pleased to be able to join you at this 3rd ADOC week as delegates come together to share experiences and expertise on bridging the digital divide. And on a personal note to let you know that this is the third ADOC week that I myself have attended.

The digital divide within and among APEC member economies is an enormous barrier to the ability of the people in the Asia-Pacific region to participate in and benefit from the digital economy. Access to internet, adequate infrastructure, human capacity building and appropriate policies on ICT are central issues in addressing the digital divide.

Success in this globalized world is predicated on ICT knowledge and successful knowledge-based economies will be based on the efficient and wide-spread use of ICT by all sectors within any given country. Small and medium enterprises, the backbone of Asia-Pacific economies, must be prepared with ICT knowledge. If they are not ICT savvy they will not receive the benefits of globalization and they will be left behind.

As long ago as 1990 APEC committed to improve the information infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific region, and to develop and implement appropriate policies in the telecommunications and information sector. Over that period numerous initiatives and strategies have been developed and implemented to assist APEC member economies to effectively respond to the rapid changes in this sector and to successfully work toward the establishment of the Asia-Pacific Information Society.

To address the digital divide, in the year 2000 in Brunei, APEC Leaders committed to develop and implement a policy framework which would enable the people of urban, provincial and rural communities in every economy to have individual or community-based access to information and services offered via the Internet by 2010. As a first step toward this goal Leaders called for tripling the number of people within the region with individual and community-based access by 2005.

In 2001, Leaders adopted the e-APEC Strategy. Its goals: to transform the digital divide into a digital dividend in order for APEC economies to benefit from the opportunities presented by a networked environment; and to prepare APEC economies and all of our people to use the information revolution as a passport to the New Economy.

Leaders and Ministers continue to encourage efforts aimed at enhancing the digital capabilities of all APEC economies. And other APEC working groups are working to meet the Brunei Goals, expand ICT access, and enhance digital capabilities. In particular APEC encourages the development of policy approaches to enable the implementation and application of advanced technologies and services to expand access to unserved and underserved areas as well as small and medium enterprises operated by women and encourages policies and regulations that support investment in both existing networks and alternative platforms.

All that work within APEC working groups and economies is paying off. Internet access in the APEC region has more than doubled since the year 2000. Six out of the twenty-one APEC member economies more than tripled their Internet access and nine economies exceeded 50 % Internet penetration.

APEC members include economies with the world's most extensive, accessible and affordable access to broadband networks and the opportunities they provide for the networked use of information and communications technologies.

While some APEC members are at the forefront of developments, the APEC region remains diverse and there is much to be gained from information sharing and collaboration between economies, particularly in the practical areas of improving the regulatory environment and building capabilities for access to and use of ICTs.

The reduction of the digital gap is improving - why - APEC's contribution and ADOC's contribution. ADOC's contributions over the past three years are indeed both impressive and significant with the establishment of and operation of 19 ADOC partner Offices in seven economies -Chile, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Viet Nam and Thailand and a focus on SMEs and education.

Now allow me to refer to Peru. Great strides forward have been made In Peru - one of the first three ADOC operations established in 2005. In 2005 Peru saw the opening of the first IT School in Latin America. Hundreds of students have benefited from Peru's Education reform in the area of ICT. In 2006 ADOC opened another two offices in Peru, one in remote Lima for micro-businesses and another at the Lima Chamber of Commerce. And During the 2005-2006 period a total of 2000 young entrepreneurs were trained in the use of the internet and ICT issues that showed young entrepreneurs how to set up a business and how to explore the opportunities in overseas markets. This year, ADOC Peru is going to Arequipa, and with this office we will be able to say that ADOC-Peru is a nation-wide project.

As for the future of ADOC-Peru; planning has already begun to move to the next stage. In 2008 we are anticipating the launch of the E-Village; a network of business organizations, various enterprises and government bodies will all be connected together in a comprehensive network.

For this we have the APEC Digital Opportunity Centre to thank. Your hard work and your unceasing efforts to move the APEC region forward in information and communications technology have made a great contribution to the people of the Asia-Pacific region. Chinese Taipei's ADOC initiative is providing cooperation and capacity building to assist other member economies to transform the digital divide into digital opportunities.

Finally I would like wish all ADOC participants great success in the coming days. This ADOC 2007 week represents a constructive contribution to building an Asia Pacific community.