Joint UNCTAD-UNESCAP Asia-Pacific Regional Conference
E-Commerce Strategies for Development
Bangkok, 20 - 22 November 2002
United Nations Conference Center

Declaration on Electronic Commerce for Development

We, the Ministers and representatives responsible for the development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and e-commerce, have gathered in Bangkok on November 22, 2002,

Recognizing that ICT and e-commerce are powerful tools that can enhance productivity, enable gender equality, increase efficiency, and enhance quality of goods and services public as well as private, and facilitate and promote international trade and investment, thus contribute to economic and social development in the Asia and Pacific region,

Noting that while there are some members and associate members in the region benefiting from e-commerce in promoting their economic growth, many other members and associate members still face difficulties in getting access to opportunities of these new technologies,

Recognizing that urgent action is needed to narrow the gap in e-commerce capacities and ICT infrastructure within the UNESCAP region and within individual members and associate members to facilitate their respective integration into the world economic system,

Considering government and the business sector, including the private sector, to be key partners in the development of e-commerce, and noting that the business sector should lead the development and use of ICT and e-commerce, while government should support and facilitate by promoting national e-commerce policy and strategies including, creating a legal and regulatory environment conducive to this development,

Acknowledging that national ICT and e-commerce strategies must be based on the economic and social context of each member and associate member, we should also take into account experiences and lessons learned as well as international best and proven practices to ensure harmonization and interoperability with the developing global e-commerce systems,

Acknowledging that successful ICT and e-commerce strategies need to take into account all relevant factors such as public awareness and education, universal access to ICT, physical and legal infrastructure development, human resources development, as well as financial, security and privacy aspects,
Considering cooperation at the regional level to be of the utmost importance and necessity in ICT and e-commerce development process, we support the work undertaken in Asia Pacific regional frameworks and stress the importance of its continuation and integration into global e-commerce systems,

Appreciating the work being carried out by UNCTAD, UNESCAP, and other UN bodies, including the UN ICT Task Force, ITU, WIPO, ITC and APT as well as other international and regional organizations in promoting the development and the use of ICT and e-commerce for economic and social development in accordance with the laws and regulations of signatory countries.

Hereby resolve to strengthen our cooperation and commit ourselves to:

1. Developing ICT and e-commerce architecture that is non-proprietary, open and technology neutral in formulating and implementing national and regional e-strategies and plans of action,

2. Enhancing participation in international activities and projects on e-commerce through, inter alia, sharing of resources.

3. Promoting integration of ICT and e-commerce strategies into national economic and social development plans with the broadest participation of all sectors, while recognizing that the development of e-commerce should be based on effective competition.

4. Facilitating and enhancing public awareness of ICT and e-commerce and increasing human resource capacity through training and education,

5. Developing ICT and e-commerce architecture that is accessible and affordable to all citizens, particularly under-privileged groups, based on open standards, and which will enable cross-border e-commerce transaction,

6. Promoting the use of e-commerce by SMEs to enhance efficiency and build up their competitiveness by providing appropriate incentives and support,

7. Enacting legislation and adopting measures supporting e-commerce to ensure trust and confidence among businesses and consumers,

8. Adopting and implementing the appropriate measures to ensure efficiency, privacy, security and reliability of e-commerce systems based on international interoperable standards, especially for electronic payment,

9. Developing internationally comparable statistical indicators for measuring and monitoring the progress of e-commerce development in members and associate members,

10. Working closely with industry and fellow governments to ensure that critical information infrastructures are protected through exchange of relevant information.

11. Inviting and encouraging all concerned organizations to support our efforts in ICT and e-commerce development, in particular inviting the World Summit on Information Society, and its preparatory process, to build a concrete plan of action facilitating the access by all members and associate members to global telecommunication and information infrastructure and to technology.

12. Encouraging cooperation, technology transfer and information flow, on all aspects of ICT and e-commerce competencies among members and associate members.

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