Minister of the Information Industry Wu Jichuan said yesterday that the future of the world's information-technology industry is still promising if restructuring is introduced to the sector.
He was addressing the closing meeting of the fifth Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation Ministerial Meeting of the Telecommunication and Information Industry, held in Shanghai this week.
The meeting produced two documents - the Shanghai Declaration and a program of action.
The two documents will have a significant impact on revitalization of IT industry, according to ministers from the 21 APEC member economies attending the meeting.
Wu said that the meeting had achieved three goals:
It boosted the confidence of all the APEC economies to seek to develop the IT industry further
The members agreed unanimously that security of information and communications infrastructure was especially important
The meeting reaffirmed that all the economies should build a united co-operative system to narrow the digital divide
The official added that all the APEC economies will focus on the need to use digital technology for the benefit of the overall population by exercising leadership, building a partnership between the government and the private sector, developing coherent policies, and using market forces, sustainability and economies of scale.
The ministers attending the meeting encouraged the deployment of an advanced, secure and reliable information infrastructure, especially in remote and underserved areas, and a better Internet network.
The ministers instructed the meeting to study further the challenges and implications of convergence between the APEC economies' telecommunications and information policies.
They said the APEC member economies should be encouraged to exchange information in terms of experience and practical responses to convergence.
Furthermore, the ministers said they were very much aware that information infrastructures and networks are confronted with serious security threats.
They commended the work carried out by the Telecommunications Working Group in electronic authentication and signatures.
Building human capacity through lifelong learning for people of both genders within the region is essential in order to narrow the digital divide, the ministers said.
At the same time, the ministers commended the industry meeting's efforts to help solve issues such as making online payments and to encourage the adoption of commercially based and equitable arrangements for Internet access that reflect traffic flow, costs and benefits.
(China Daily May 31, 2002)
