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Second APEC Ministerial Meeting on
Telecommunications & Information Industry
Gold Coast, Australia
September 5-6, 1996
JOINT STATEMENT
1. A Meeting of APEC Ministers responsible for the Telecommunications and Information Industry was convened at the Gold Coast, Australia, 5-6 September 1996. Delegates from Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Republic of the Philippines, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand and the United States of America participated in the Meeting.
2. A representative of the APEC Secretariat and an observer from the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) were present at the meeting.
3. The Meeting was chaired by Senator the Hon. Richard Alston, Minister for Communications and the Arts, Australia.
4. Ministers reviewed actions taken toward making the telecommunications and information sector a "model" sector in achieving the goals set by the APEC Economic Leaders at Bogor - strengthening the open multilateral trading system, enhancing trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation in the Asia-Pacific, intensifying development cooperation and improving the Asia Pacific Information Infrastructure (APII).
5. Ministers discussed the APEC Economic Leaders' Action Agenda, agreed at Osaka in November 1995 and reviewed the progress made toward the implementation of the Action Plan for the APII adopted at their first meeting in May 1995.
6. Ministers expressed the conviction that the five objectives and ten core principles of the APII remain a sound basis for cooperation, and confirmed their continuing resolve to strengthen cooperation at every level for the development of the APII in an effective and balanced manner for regional and global prosperity.
7. Ministers applauded the efforts made by Korea since their hosting of the First APEC Ministerial Meeting on Telecommunications and Information Industry to advance the progress of the APII. In particular, they recorded their appreciation of the Test-bed Forum held in Seoul which had been successful in developing a number of cooperative APII activities. Ministers welcomed the establishment of APII pilot project criteria by the APEC Telecommunications Working Group (TEL WG) for endorsement of future projects using APEC budget resources and the growing range of cooperative activities and pilot projects toward the development of the APII. The importance of moving from the conceptual to the implementation stage, and of developing collaborative services in the areas of business, education, health and rural development was stressed, to ensure that the benefits of the APII are available to the many people of the APEC region.
8. Ministers discussed the APEC agenda for trade and investment liberalisation and facilitaion, and for economic and technical cooperation, noting the mutually reinforcing character of this agenda, especially in the telecommunications and information sector, as expressed in many initiatives for cooperative activity toward the development of the APII. Just as the development of telecommunications and information services is facilitated by the liberalisation of trade and investment, so also economic and technical cooperation supports the implementation of liberalisation, and the development of the telecommunications and information infrastructure, to the benefit of the wider economy. They endorsed the importance of ensuring that these benefits were evident in wider access to telecommunications and information services, greater competition in the supply of goods and services, and reduced costs to business and individual users of telecommunications and information services.
9. Ministers welcomed the expansion of collective actions for trade and investment liberalisation in the telecommunications and information sector, including conformance by 1998 by almost all of the economies with guidelines for trade in international value-added network services (IVANS) and finalisation by 1997 of a model mutual recognition arrangement for trade in telecommunications equipment. Ministers recognised the Reference List of Elements of a Fully Liberalised Telecommunications Services Sector adopted by the TEL WG as representing elements expected to be present in each economy by or before the Bogor Declaration liberalisation timetable.
10. Ministers also welcomed the TEL WG's recommendation of the Comprehensive Reference List of Actions as a resource paper for economies to consider in developing their Individual Action Plans and individual sectoral programs for liberalisation, recognising that economies have not endorsed any particular item and are not committed to any particular item. They noted the need to consider plans as soon as practicable for collective actions to liberalise the telecommunications and information sector. In line with the Osaka Action Agenda and in the spirit of the Bogor Declaration, they recognised that a successful conclusion to the negotiations in the WTO Group on Basic Telecommunications requires the broadest possible participation by all WTO APEC member economies and the submission of new or improved offers prior to the Singapore Ministerial in December 1996.
11. Ministers, noting the importance of technical and development cooperation as a tool to achieve the objectives of the Bogor Declaration and Osaka Action Agenda on the liberalisation and development of the APII encouraged developed economies to emphasis their roles in the TEL WG on development cooperation as well as human resource development programs in order to enhance the level of development among APEC economies in the area of telecommunications.
12. Ministers noted with appreciation the updated report on the telecommunications structural and regulatory arrangements in APEC economies.
13. Ministers also noted with appreciation the vigorous promotion of electronic commerce to accelerate the growth of regional trade and development. They recognised the positive value of electronic commerce as a boost to the efficiency of trading enterprises especially small and medium-sized enterprises in a multi-economy market. They agreed to support continued efforts to develop cooperative activities in these areas, and to identify the environment required for the promotion of business/private sector investment in telecommunications.
14. Ministers strongly endorsed the energetic commitment of the TEL WG to human resource development, noting that human resource development is a fundamental element of the whole APEC agenda for trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation, and for economic and technical cooperation. They appreciated the advances made in completing the Model Vocational Education and Training Framework for Telecommunications and agreed to encourage continued efforts to expand the effectiveness of human resource development efforts in the region through training courses, distance learning, resource sharing, personnel exchanges and the on-going development of skill standards.
15. Ministers applauded the increased participation by the business/private sector in the TEL WG meetings and work program. They recognised that under the Bogor Declaration a strengthening of the partnership between government and business/industry is required as the APEC process moves forward toward open trade and investment. They agreed to support the continuation of the APEC/PECC Policy Dialogue within the TEL WG and expanded involvement by the business/private sector in future Ministerial meetings.
16. Ministers welcomed the completion of the Practical Manual for Network Planning and the growing range and quality of economic and technical cooperation activities, especially in projects to enhance access to and benefits from the APII. They underlined the importance of ensuring that developing economies benefit from the enhancement of telecommunications and information infrastructure.
17. Ministers said that they would continue to cooperate in promoting the development of member economies' domestic information infrastructure, the APII and the APEC Economic Leaders objectives in the telecommunications and information sector.
18. Ministers recognised that in addition to health care, education and small and medium enterprises, the telecommunication and information technologies also have an important role to play in protecting the environment, and that the latest telecommunication and information technologies can be extremely useful in implementing and conducting environment protection activities.
19. With that purpose in mind, Ministers adopted a Gold Coast Declaration containing a Program of Action to guide further APEC activities in the sector, including activities of the TEL WG, and to provide sectoral input to the meeting of APEC Economic Leaders to be held in the Philippines in November 1996.
20. Ministers noted with appreciation the report from Professor Mark Armstrong, Chairman of the Industry Forum held before the Ministerial Meeting. The report conveyed to Ministers the range of views expressed by business representatives from most of the APEC economies on the policy issues relevant to the growth and development of the telecommunications and information industry, and ways in which cooperation between APEC member economies could assist in resolving the issues.
21. Ministers agreed to hold a third Ministerial Meeting on the Telecommunications and Information Industry to review progress in the implementation of the Program of Action. Ministers welcomed the offer by Mr Mah Bow Tan, Minister for Communications of the Republic of Singapore, to host the Third APEC Ministerial Meeting on Telecommunications and Information Industry in Singapore in 1998.
GOLD COAST DECLARATION
We, APEC Ministers responsible for the telecommunications and information industry, gathered at the Gold Coast, 5-6 September 1996,
acknowledging the APEC Economic Leaders' Declaration for Action at Osaka, which recognised the importance of policy dialogue and economic and technical cooperation to broaden and deepen intra-regional cooperation to promote trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation, to narrow the disparities within the region, and to achieve growth and prosperity for the region as a whole;
responding to the Osaka Action Agenda in which APEC Economic Leaders:
a. recognised that, as the economic interdependence among APEC economies deepens, telecommunications and information infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific region has a critical role to play in strengthening market linkages and enhancing trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation.
b. encouraged member economies to intensify technical and development cooperation, and
c. affirmed cooperative efforts among APEC economies to develop an Asia-Pacific Information Infrastructure (APII) on the basis of the five objectives and ten principles adopted by Ministers responsible for the telecommunications and information industry at Seoul, Korea, in May 1995 (Annex 1) ;
reaffirming the Bogor Declaration in which APEC Economic Leaders:
a. agreed to strengthen the multilateral trading system, enhance trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation, intensify development cooperation, and to achieve free and open trade and investment by industralised economies by no later than the year 2010 and developing economies by no later than the year 2020,
b. emphasised the important of development cooperation in such areas as science and technology, including transfers of technology, as a tool to attain sustainable growth and equitable development of APEC economies, and
c. noted the critical role of the infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific region, including telecommunications and information, in accomplishing this goal;
having reviewed the activities undertaken to implement
a. the telecommunications and information elements of the Osaka Action Agenda, and
b. the Action Plan endorsed by Ministers at the Ministerial Meeting on Telecommunications and Information Industry in Seoul in May 1995;
welcoming the achievement of progress in a broad range of collective actions and joint activities for trade and investment liberalisation and for economic and technical cooperation;
renewing our commitment, as APEC Ministers responsible for the telecommunications and information industry, to implement the five objectives and ten principles of the APII, and to support the development of the APII through cooperative activities, including those recommended by the APEC Telecommunications Working Group (TEL WG) and the APII Test-bed Forum;
affirming the wider access to telecommunications and information services, expanded and fair competition in the supply of goods and services, reductions in telecommunications prices and speedier development of telecommunications infrastructure will be important measures of the benefits to the region that flow from the development and liberalisation of the telecommunications and information infrastructure;
recognising that the Reference List of Elements of a Fully Liberalised Telecommunications Services Sector (at Annex 2) contains a good general description of what free and open trade and investment, expected to be present in each economy by or before the Bogor Declaration Liberalisation timetable, means in this sector;
applauding the increased participation by the business/private sector in the TEL WG meetings and work program;
emphasising the contribution of the TEL WG in promoting telecommunications and information cooperation, trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation in the region, and in enhancing the APII by converting its objectives and principles into concrete projects and policy measures;
recalling the diversity in the level of economic and infrastructure development among member economies and the need for sound and sustainable economic development in the region;
concurring that every member economy's objectives and principles for a domestic information infrastructure should, as far as possible, be consistent and complementary with those of the APII;
supporting joint activities of research and development, and recalling the importance of promoting research and development by cooperation among researchers from industry, government and academia of member economies in order to advance the APII;
recognising that greater business/private sector initiative and investment is vital for successfully implementing the APII, that an appropriate environment is necessary for promoting the business/private sector investment in telecommunications and information infrastructure development, and that policy coordination and harmonisation among member economies can facilitate a competitive and market-driven environment;
confirming that the APII has developed from the conceptual stage to the implementation stage, and that there is a need to identify the APII applications which should be made widely available to the people in the APEC region in the future, and to promote cooperation among member economies on training, research and development;
recognising also the importance of making APII applications available all over the APEC region;
emphasising the necessity of timely action plans consistent with the APII objectives and principles established in Seoul in 1995;
do hereby adopt the following Program for Action.
Program for Action
1. Ministers note that the Program for Action for the telecommunications and information sector will contribute to the Action Plan to be considered at the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting to be held at Subic Bay, the Philippines in November 1996.
2. Ministers commit themselves to support continued efforts to achieve the Bogor objectives of trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation, and economic and technical cooperation, by or before the Bogor Declaration Liberalisation timetable, and consistent with the Osaka Action Agenda.
3. Ministers direct the TEL WG to continue, in accordance with the Leaders' directions given at Bogor and Osaka, and with the ten APII principles agreed at the Ministerial Meeting in Seoul, to refine and implement plans for the telecommunications and information sector, setting steps and milestones with target dates for concrete outcomes
a. to improve the telecommunications and information infrastructure in the region, and
b. to facilitate effective cooperation, free trade and investment and sustainable development of the region.
4. Ministers, noting the importance of technical and development cooperation as a tool to achieve the objectives of the Bogor Declaration and Osaka Action Agenda on the liberalisation and development of the APII, encourage developed economies to emphasise their roles in the TEL WG on development cooperation as well as human resource development programs in order to enhance the level of development among APEC economies in the area of telecommunications.
5. Ministers welcome the growing range of cooperative activities and pilot projects, including those listed in Annex 3, toward the development of the APII, and encourage the TEL WG to expedite their implementation. Ministers direct the TEL WG to continue to identify further cooperative activities in support of its work program objectives to achieve wider access to APII applications, exploring opportunities to promote collaborative multi-economy projects such as
a. pilot administrative information networks;
b. new services for rural development;
c. test-beds for interconnection and interoperability;
d. information sharing and data base development;
e. telemedicine, distance education and multimedia communications;
f. policy dialogues on the APII between developed and developing member economies; and
g. studies of the social and economic implications of the information society.
6. Ministers endorse the following collective actions for trade and investment liberalisation in the sector developed by the TEL WG on the basis of instructions given by Ministers in 1995, in the Seoul Action Plan:
a. conformance, where appropriate, with the APEC Guidelines for Trade in International Value-Added Network Services (IVANS) by 1998;
b. general conformance, where appropriate, with APEC guidelines for harmonisation of equipment certification;
c. harmonisation of administrative procedures governing certification of customer telecommunications equipment;
d. development and initial implementation, on an elective basis, of a model mutual recognition arrangement for conformity assessment by the end of 1997;
e. establishment of a task group to develop a plan, including two seminars in 1997, for the development and application of a model mutual recognition arrangement;
f. progressive reduction of restrictions on market access for telecommunications services;
g. progressive provision for non-discriminatory treatment of all telecommunications network and service providers;
h. encouragement of business/private sector investment and participation in the provision of telecommunications services;
i. formation of a study group on transparent funding of universal delivery of basic telecommunications services under conditions of liberalised markets;
j. agreeing that domestic and commercial consumers of telecommunications services should enjoy significant cost reductions which result from liberalisation, establishment of a task group to develop an appropriate set of indicators to measure the benefits of liberalisation to users, and to make a proposal to the 15th TEL WG on use of such indicators in TEL WG work;
k. recognising that economies have not endorsed any particular item and are not committed to any particular item, recommendation of the Comprehensive Reference List of Actions, compiled from the suggestions of TEL WG members and reflecting, in part, Regulatory Principles developed in World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations, as a resource paper for economies to consider in developing their Individual Action Plans and individual sectoral program for liberalisation;
l. establishment of a task group to develop a formal plan and proposal for a seminar on "Liberalisation Effects in Telecommunications" to assist telecommunications officials and industry to assess the legal and commercial implications of liberalisation for international telecommunications trade; to identify common strategies to ensure a flourishing telecommunications industry throughout the APEC region; and to share experience in planning and implementing the transition towards a liberalised telecommunications environment; and
m. further development of collective actions plans for liberalisation of the telecommunications and information sector.
7. Ministers direct the TEL WG to continue its efforts to promote policy and regulatory measures for liberalisation of trade and investment in the telecommunications and information sector, to consider plans as soon as practicable for collective actions to liberalise the telecommunications and information sector, for the removal of technical and administrative barriers to market access, the promotion of international standards, the development of domestic and global markets for networks, services and applications, and the promotion of equitable and non-discriminatory access arrangements for carriers and for providers of telecommunications and information services.
8. Ministers direct the TEL WG to continue to facilitate business in the region through
a. publishing regular reports on the state of the telecommunications regulatory environment in each APEC economy in order to improve business/private sector access to related policies, regulations and other information;
b. promoting electronic commerce through seminars, studies on electronic data interchange application development, and experiments on the interoperability and suitability for electronic commerce of various networks;
c. promoting the use of Internet for electronic commerce;
d. adopting electronic communications as the preferred means of doing business amongst APEC economies;
e. promoting business/private sector investment in telecommunications and information infrastructure through the identification of the necessary and favourable investment environment;
f. exploring initiatives for making government public information more widely available via electronic means, and for the development of government use of telecommunications as a means of encouraging business use; and
g. strengthening the partnership with the business/private sector by continuing further business/private sector involvement in the TEL WG meetings and work program.
9. Ministers direct the TEL WG to
a. promote universal access to telecommunications services, at an efficient cost level, through the sharing of information and experience of the policy, regulatory and commercial strategies that have proven successful in the region, with a view to maximising the social and economic benefits to users in each economy;
b. further increase cooperation in infrastructure activities between APEC and other international institutions and fora to facilitate the modernisation of telecommunications and information infrastructure in all economies, reducing the infrastructure gap between developed and developing economies;
c. promote cooperation in the areas of human resource development, joint research and development as well as a higher level of technology transfer among member economies; and
d. increase cooperation to identify the needs of the information sector based on the intrinsic link between content and promotion of the APII and its applications, through development of appropriate fora within the TEL WG structure for information exchange and policy recommendation development.
10. To reduce disparities between developed and developing economies within the region, Ministers direct the TEL WG to continue to promote human resources development and related capabilities through projects and seminars in such areas as
a. improvement of strategic planning and analysis of APII implementations;
b. technology evaluation;
c. demand forecasting;
d. regulatory reform and telecommunications administration in economies in transition for liberalisation;
e. privatisation and competition in telecommunications and information industries;
f. implementation of the APEC TEL WG distance learning pilot project;
g. considering the implementation of the Model Vocational Education and Training Framework; and
h. developing further skills standards in telecommunications.
11. Ministers request the TEL WG to continue to examine ways to increase participation and cooperation between the TEL WG and other existing international institutions and programs on standards and existing technology cooperation projects, and to encourage support for business/private sector participation and investment in the development of information infrastructure with
a. international financial institutions such as the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, and the InterAmerican Development Bank; and
b. APT, ITU, OECD, WTO and G7 joint pilot projects, such as cooperation on test-bed interconnection, information sharing, broadband trials, standardisation and training of telecommunication technologies, global inventory, electronic commerce, small and medium enterprises business facilitation, health and education projects.
12. In the spirit of the Bogor and Osaka Leaders' Statements that fully support APEC members' contributions to the work of the WTO, and recognising the importance of the multilateral trading system, Ministers support the broadest possible participation in the WTO Group on Basic Telecommunications by all WTO APEC member economies, and the submission of new or improved offers prior to the meeting of Trade Ministers in Singapore in December 1996, to facilitate a successful conclusion to these negotiations by February 1997.
ANNEX 1
Objectives and Principles for the Asia Pacific Information
Infrastructure included in the Seoul Declaration for the
Asia Pacific Information Infrastructure
(May 1995)
Objectives
1. Facilitating the construction and expansion of an interconnected and interoperable information infrastructure in the region;
2. Encouraging technical cooperation among member economies in the development of the infrastructure;
3. Promoting free and efficient flow of information;
4. Furthering the exchange and development of human resources; and
5. Encouraging the creation of a policy and regulatory environment favorable to the development of the Asia Pacific Information Infrastructure.
Guiding Principles
1. Encouraging member economies in the construction of domestic telecommunications and information infrastructure based on their own reality;
2. Promoting a competition driven environment;
3. Encouraging business/private sector investment and participation;
4. Creating a flexible policy and regulatory framework;
5. Intensifying cooperation among member economies;
6. Narrowing the infrastructure gap between the advanced and the developing economies;
7. Ensuring open and non-discriminatory access to public telecommunications networks for all information providers and users in accordance with domestic laws and regulations;
8. Ensuring universal provision of and access to public telecommunications services;
9. Promoting diversity of content, including cultural and linguistic diversity;
10. Ensuring the protection of intellectual property rights, privacy and data security.
Reference list of Elements of a Fully Liberalised
Telecommunications
Services Sector
The following elements are recognised as a general description of a fully liberalised telecommunications services environment towards which each economy will plan its own path, in line with the prevailing legal and regulatory environment and government structure of each economy, within the framework of the Bogor Declaration timetable for achieving free trade and investment in the APEC region.
1. In a fully liberalised telecommunications sector, users would have:
a. choice of suppliers of telecommunications services, offering a full range of services, including telephony, data, news and information, and fully interactive services;
b. choice of suppliers of telecommunications services offering lower prices, greater convenience or specialist service offerings;
c. ready access to timely information about customer services and billing.
2. In a fully liberalised telecommunications sector, suppliers of telecommunications services would be able to extend their business activity without restrictions on entering the market, including
a. restrictions on the number of network providers or installers of network infrastructure, except where limited by scarce physical resources;
b. complex or time-consuming licensing arrangements;
c. restrictions on foreign-owned carriers and service providers; or
d. restricted access to the network infrastructure of other suppliers (i.e. interconnection).
3. In a fully liberalised telecommunications sector, suppliers of telecommunications services and users would both benefit from a full range of competitive safeguards that:
a. prevent a dominant supplier from abusing market power;
b. prevent domestic companies being favoured; and
c. provide clear and accessible (i.e. 'transparent') laws, regulations and administrative procedures, which would ensure non-discriminatory treatment of service providers and users.
4. In a fully liberalised telecommunications sector, investors would have confidence to invest in the telecommunications industry and in companies reliant on telecommunications services, on the basis of stable legal and administrative arrangements that remove the risk of arbitrary or unexpected changes in the commercial environment.
5. In a fully liberalised telecommunications sector, Governments would have clearly defined responsibility to:
a. provide for transparent and non-discriminatory policy arrangements to meet the needs of their economies;
b. ensure that the regulatory authority responsible for telecommunications is legally and structurally independent, with a legal responsibility to act impartially and expeditiously, and with adequate resources to fulfil its function;
c. ensure transparent mechanisms to support universal access to standard telecommunications services as agreed within each individual economy;
d. fairly allocate scarce resources, such as spectrum, numbering and right of way;
e. provide for a full range of consumer protection measures.
APII COOPERATIVE ACTIVITIES AND PILOT PROJECTS
A. Promotion and Cooperation
APII Cooperation Centre
The Cooperation Centre is to develop data bases on the APII, to promote cooperative projects, to support APII events and related human resource development activities, and to advance the use of the Internet for cooperation.
APII Technology Centre
The Technology Centre is one of the key facilities to implement testbed interconnection or access, and experiments of network interconnectivity and applications development and experiments.
APEC TEL WG Web site development
The web site will improve the TEL WG's working methods via electronic means, especially to disseminate documents between TEL WG meetings, and to provide general information to the public electronically.
Catalogue of APII Development and Financial Resources
The project will catalogue contacts, by economy, for developmental assistance. It is designed to improve access to sources of funding and assistance, to improve external relations, and to promote the deployment of the APII.
B. Technology and Network Infrastructure Development
APII Testbed Project for Interconnectivity and Interoperability
This project consists of 5 sub-themes:
1. The Internet
2. Narrowband ISDN
3. Broadband Network
4. High Data Rate Satellite Communications
5. Project Inventory
In each sub-theme, it is planned to develop applications such as tele-education, telemedicine, and collaborative research, for use on each network.
X.400 Network Interoperability Testing project
The X.400 test program is currently producing a matrix which outlines each economy's capabilities with respect to X.400 network interoperability.
Video Conferencing and Collaboration Systems over APII Testbed
This project is to develop transnational real-time multimedia applications over the interconnected domestic broadband testbeds and middleware services.
ATM Trial Network - Broadband Interconnection *
Development of interconnection to APII testbeds, including interoperability/interconnectivity testing via satellite.
Asia-Pacific Advanced Network (APAN) Project *
The goal of APAN is to establish a network for research and development in advanced networking applications and services in the Asia-Pacific region, to encourage regional cooperation and collaboration and to interconnect a number of the regional high speed testbeds and relevant networks.
Assessment of Existing and Planned Network capacity *
The assessment would include existing and planned capacity with forecasts from each economy to include how much capacity will be required (by economy, by route and by volume) and the forecast time frame for these requirements. If a significant shortage is found, a recommendation for further action may be addressed.
C. Applications Development
Health Care Applications and Telemedicine, including Interactive Medical Curriculum Project *
The project aims to establish new areas of development cooperation among APEC economies, focused on multi-media health information and education applications for on-line deployment on the APII.
D. Electronic Commerce
APEC EDI Pilot Project
This project will implement EDI verification experiments focusing on technical and system application aspects using the Internet, to which even small and medium sized companies can connect easily, to promote liberalisation of business deals in the APEC region.
APEC (SME Electronic Commerce) Study
The study will survey 3000 SMEs and assess various aspects of their electronic commerce readiness. The results of the study will also sensitise policy makers to the implications of deploying electronic commerce in APEC.
APEC-G7 INGECEP Pilot Project
Electronic Commerce Experimental Project over both narrowband (the Internet) and Broadband (ATM) networks interconnecting with APEC/G7 member economies.
APEC Electronic Commerce Seminars
The purpose of this seminar is to help users, mainly from small and medium sized companies, understand the benefits of doing business electronically, and to promote electronic commerce among them.
E. Education and Training
Electronic Commerce and Exchange of Industrial Information, including Business Directory Service for SMEs *
A comprehensive directory of businesses and government bodies, and the products and services they offer, would have the potential to speed up the business cycle, boost the electronic publishing industry and facilitate electronic commerce.
Distance learning Pilot Project
A project for development and delivery of two courses on distance education via the World Wide Web.
1. 'The management of distance education', and
2. 'Train the trainer' on distance education.
Model Vocational Education and Training Framework for Telecommunications
This project is developing an agreed APEC model for Vocational Education and Training in Telecommunications as a basis for the enhancement of current education and training structures to meet the skilled labour demands of the telecommunications sector.
Education and Training Projects, including Collaborative Research Project on Multimedia Human Resource Development System Network Technologies
To contribute to human resource development in the field of telecommunications technologies in the region, research and development are to be conducted, using a satellite and international telecommunications networks and Computer Assisted Instruction, to develop a multimedia human resource development system.
F. Policy Dialogue and Impact Studies
APEC Study on Interconnection
The study is designed to promote greater exchange of information and in-depth analysis of interconnection rules and policies within each economy.
APEC/PECC Communications and Information Policy Forum
These government-business/industry discussions, will continue to take place during TEL WG meetings.
Workshop/Seminar on Universal Access
The purpose is to facilitate progress towards the implementation of APII principles (specifically, 'ensuring universal provision of and access to services'), through dialogue on policy, regulatory and commercial approaches that may benefit economies in different stages of development.
Mutual recognition Assessment Seminars
Two seminars will be held to build confidence in a proposed model mutual recognition arrangement (MRA) for conformity assessment that are being developed. The first seminar would focus on regulatory regimes in APEC member economies; the second would focus on possible steps needed to comply with a model MRA.
APEC/PECC Content/Information and Applications Forum
This forum will set forth the needs of the information sector, showing how content is linked intrinsically to promotion of the information infrastructure and of applications.
Joint Study on the Impact of the APII
This will address issues dealing with societal implications of the APII.
Electromagnetic Compatibility Management (EMC Project)
This project aims to identify common approaches among APEC economies to the development of EMC standards, compliance and testing procedures, and to develop a model implementation procedure for effective EMC management in the Asia-Pacific region.
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