2005/2006
2003/2004

2005/2006
2003/2004

2005/2006
2003/2004

Lorraine Carlos Salazar and Shelah D. Lardizabal

APEC and its response to the ICT promise

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is a forum working towards facilitating economic growth, cooperation, trade and investment among a select group of economies in the Asia-Pacific region. The organisation has 21 members: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Russian Federation, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, USA and Vietnam.
APEC prides itself on being the only intergovernmental group that operates on the basis of non-binding commitments, open dialogue, and equal respect for the views of all participants. In contrast to WTO or other multilateral trade bodies, APEC does not impose treaty obligations on its members. Instead, decisions are reached by consensus and commitments are undertaken on a voluntary basis.

APEC’s vision of "free and open trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific by 2010 for industrialised economies and 2020 for developing economies" is articulated in the Bogor Goals.1 The grouping has worked to reduce tariffs and other trade barriers across the region since its establishment in 1989. It has launched a number of initiatives since the 1990s to respond to both the prospects and the challenges offered by the rapid growth of the ICT sector.

This chapter reviews APEC’s ICT policies and initiatives, focusing on three areas. First, we look at APEC’s ICT policy pronouncements and initiatives. Then we survey APEC’s institutional mechanisms set up to help it achieve its ICT goals. Finally, we consider the progress made thus far in achieving the goals of the e-APEC Strategy, APEC’s central ICT policy.

ICT initiatives and policy announcements

This section examines the ICT policies of APEC, ranging from broad policy pronouncements to specific initiatives that it has launched for the APEC region.

e-APEC Strategy

The centrepiece of APEC’s ICT initiatives is the e-APEC Strategy2 launched in 2001 at the 13th APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Shanghai. The strategy is very comprehensive and action oriented. It signals APEC leaders’ appreciation of the revolutionary impact of ICT and the enormous potential of the new technologies, when properly harnessed, for improving people’s standard of living. The
e-APEC Strategy identifies the necessary policy environment and specifies appropriate goals and actions to take to maximise the benefits of the ICT revolution, address the digital divide, and thus reap the benefits that can be derived from the opportunities presented by the emerging "new economy". The strategy provides a forward-looking, long-term and action-oriented plan with three major prongs of action:

1. Creating an environment for strengthening market structures and institutions
2. Creating an environment for infrastructure investment and technology development
3. Enhancing human capacity building and promoting entrepreneurship

The following are the goals stated for the first prong of creating an environment for strengthening market structures and institutions:

• Promoting economic growth with a sound macroeconomic framework
• Introducing structural reform to promote investment and trade liberalisation
• Accelerating market-oriented regulatory reforms
• Ensuring well-functioning financial markets and good corporate governance
• Adopting policies that reduce barriers to competition and maintaining an open policy stance for international trade and investment so as to reduce the costs of hardware, software and services, improve international standards and promote e-commerce. . . . . the complete text of this chapter is available for purchase and immediate download as a PDF file, please click here for more information.

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2003/2004 edition
2005/2006 edition
.af Afghanistan
.au Australia
.bd Bangladesh
.bt Bhutan
.bn Brunei
.cn China
.hk Hong Kong
.id Indonesia
.in India
.ir Iran
.jp Japan
.kh Cambodia
.kr South Korea
.la Laos
.lk Sri Lanka
.mm Myanmar
.mn Mongolia
.mo Macau
.mv Maldives
.my Malaysia
.np Nepal
.nz New Zealand
.ph Philippines
.pk Pakistan
.sg Singapore
.th Thailand
.tp/.tl Timor-Leste
.tw Taiwan
.vn Vietnam
Pacific Islands
ASEAN
APEC