Realization of the Asia-Pacific Vision of the Information Society in the APEC Member Economies

Abstract

The 21 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies account for approximately 40.5% of the world's population, approximately 54.2% of world GDP and about 43.7% of world trade (APEC, Human Resources Development Working Group). Towards the latter stages of the 20th century it was recognised that economic growth in the Asia Pacific basin would greatly benefit through the formation of closer ties in the region. The APEC Economic Leaders’ Declaration (1994), called the Bogor Declaration, is seen as one of the early attempts to address this ambition. It stated that the Asia-Pacific industrialized economies will provide opportunities for developing economies to increase further their economic growth and their level of development. The following year, the 1995 APEC Economic Leaders’ Declaration adopted the Osaka Action Plan for the implementation of the Bogor Declaration. The Osaka Action Plan stated that APEC economies should take actions in specific areas in order to achieve the Bogor Declaration objectives such as working to bridge the digital divide at the domestic, regional and global levels. From 1995 to 2000, the APEC economic Leaders, in annual meetings, recognized the importance of telecommunications and information technology for building an Asia-Pacific information society (APIS) and agreed that the Asia-Pacific Information Infrastructure (APII) is an essential basis for ensuring the competitiveness of the region in the 21st Century. Leaders acknowledged that telecommunication trade and investment liberalisation are fundamental to the attainment of the APEC Leaders’ vision of free trade and investment by 2010/2020, and admitted that the revolution in information and communication technology is dramatically boosting the development of a global economy.