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Subregional Telecommunications Forum Adopts Three-Phase Implementation Plan for the GMS Backbone Project Phase I (February 2001)

The Fifth Meeting of the Subregional Telecommunications Forum (the STCF) was held at the Montien Riverside Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand on 21-22 February 2001. The Meeting was jointly organized by ADB and the Post and Telegraph Department of the Ministry of Transport and Communications (PTD). The objectives of the Meeting were as follows:

1. to discuss the proposed GMS: Telecoms Backbone Project Phase I, which is one of the high priority projects in the GMS
2. to facilitate the implementation of STCF Work Plan; and
3. to discuss the relationship between poverty reduction and information and communications technology (ICT).

Participants included officials from the telecommunications agencies, telecommunications operators, and agencies responsible for public investment in the GMS countries. The Meeting was chaired by Mr. Sethaporn Cusripituck, Director General, PTD, and co-chaired by Mr. Preben Nielsen, Deputy Director, Infrastructure, Energy, and Financial Sectors Department (West), ADB.

A major outcome of the meeting was the adoption by the STCF of the three-phase implementation plan for the proposed Phase I of the telecommunications backbone network for the GMS. The implementation plan involves:

1. the conduct of an ADB regional technical assistance for a telecommunications policy sector study for Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Viet Nam;
2. provision of an ADB program loan to mitigate possible fiscal burden arising from the implementation of the telecommunications sector policy reform program; and
3. provision of an ADB project loan to implement the Phase I telecommunications backbone project.

The meeting also endorsed the final report of the feasibility study update of the GMS Phase I telecommunications project (RETA 5915), which recommends a phased approach to the construction of the backbone network and the implementation of the appropriate "soft issues" studies.

Resource persons from the Governments of Thailand and Korea shared the experiences of their respective countries in the liberalization of the telecommunications sector. A resource person from a private sector telecommunications company made a presentation on various modalities for public-private partnerships in financing telecommunications projects. In one presentation, a resource person from an international organization involved in the Internet and economic development emphasized the need for a coordinated approach to leverage ICT and the Internet to foster economic development and reduce poverty.

For the entire proceedings, email: gms@adb.org

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