South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC)

South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC)
First Meeting of the Information and Communication Technology Working Group
New Delhi, India, 15-16 March 2004

Post-Workshop Statement

The first meeting of the Information Communications and Technology (ICT) Working Group under the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) program was held at the Imperial Hotel, New Delhi, India on 15 – 16 March 2004. The Government of India chaired the meeting.

Secretaries and government officials of relevant line ministries from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal; representatives from the private sector in India, UNESCAP and APT; and ADB Consultant and Staff attended this landmark meeting.

The Meeting discussed the current status and major issues of ICT development in the subregion, as well as, the proposed ADB technical assistance (TA) for preparing a SASEC ICT Master plan that would identify potential areas for cooperation among SASEC countries for ICT development on a regional level. The Meeting also agreed on the consultants’ terms of reference and implementation arrangements of the proposed TA. Five major areas were suggested as priority areas to help enhance regional cooperation in the ICT sector, which will be considered in the proposed TA:

Enhancement of regional connectivity via high-bandwidth connections among the four countries; Establishment of community information centers;
Promotion of information sharing and human resources development in the ICT sector;
Strengthening and harmonization of regulations in the ICT sector;
and Development of common software tools to enhance digital content available over the Internet, regardless of language.

It was agreed that the next working group meeting will be held in Bhutan around June 2005 when the TA report on SASEC ICT Master Plan becomes available.

Read the Highlights and Proceedings of the Meeting

Background
Objectives
Expected Outputs
Target Participants

Resource Speakers
Workshop Document
Contacts

Background

At the Inception Meeting of RETA 6010: South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) II, the Country Advisors had established Information and Communications Technology (ICT) as the 6th sector of SASEC.

The ICT Working Group (WG) is envisaged to:

strengthen institutional cooperation among relevant agencies and private sector representatives for future collaborative ICT undertakings in the region
discuss and agree on mechanisms for institutional coordination and consultation processes for regional ICT development based on broad framework earlier agreed by the Country Advisors
collectively agree on the next steps to be done to facilitate cooperation in ICT

Objectives

The Meeting seeks to:

develop ICT cooperation agenda
discuss issues and activities under the SASEC ICT sector
agree on Consultant's terms of reference (TOR) in the preparation of a SASEC ICT Development Master plan, which will identify regional ICT sector policies and strategies including ADB's investment programs/technical assistance activities.

Expected Outputs

The Meeting is expected to:

get the endorsement of consultant's terms of reference from the SASEC countries
set the timetable for of prioritized ICTWG activities
enhance cooperative dialogue among participating countries

Target Participants

ICT Secretaries, policy makers, and relevant agencies' experts from SASEC countries
Representatives from APT and UNESCAP
ADB Staff
Consultants

View list of participants.

Resource Speakers

Ms. Hyunjung Lee
Economist, ADB
Mr. Philip Chang
Economist, ADB
Dr. Randeep Sudan
ADB Consultant
Dr. Xuan Zengpei
Chief
Information, Communication and Space Technology Division
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP)
Dr. G. Hugh Railton
Deputy Executive Director
Asia Pacific Telecommunity (APT)

Workshop Document

View agenda

Contacts

SASEC Secretariat
Asian Development Bank
Tel: + 632 632 5195
Fax: + 632 636 2318
Email: sasec@adb.org

Mr. Dong Soo Pyo
Senior Financial Specialist
Transportation and Communications Division
South Asia Department
Tel: + 632 632 6817
Fax: + 632 636 2318
Email: dspyo@adb.org

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