His Excellency Mr. Roberto Romulo,
Distinguished Members of the Task Force,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

1. On behalf of the Royal Thai Government, I would like to extend a

very warm welcome to all of you to the city of Bangkok. Indeed, I sincerely appreciate the opportunity to speak in front of this distinguished audience. Your gathering here today reaffirms ASEAN’s dedication and true commitment in promoting our regional cooperation under the e-ASEAN initiative. And, I am confident that this meeting will be successful in achieving its goals and objectives.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

2) The world is undergoing a profound transformation. Advances in information and communication technologies (ICT) have played a powerful role in the widening phenomenon of globalisation and they are paving the way for an era of new economy. As we enter the millennium, we find ourselves in an era of knowledge-based economies where possession, distribution, and consumption of knowledge play a crucial part in economic growth, and, indeed, in forging a new way of life. Knowledge and information are now embedded in every sector in the economy and intangible capital is considered at least as important as tangible capital.

3) The industrialised countries envisaged information technology and Internet as a tool to gain a competitive edge over other nations many years ago. Hence, developing countries and LDCs cannot afford to be complacent; otherwise the risks of falling further behind will be exacerbated. Accordingly, it is imperative for us to be well-prepared and undertake the necessary initiatives in order to embrace the challenges as well as harness the benefits in the digital era.

4) Unfortunately, there already exists a gap between those who have access to information technology and those who don't. This disparity has come to be known as the Digital Divide. Only 276 million people out of the total world population of 6 billion, or less than 5 percent, have access to the internet. Sadly, only 10% of these internet users are in the developing countries. At the recent G-8 meeting in Okinawa, the industrialised countries acknowledged the seriousness of this problem and pledged to help make the opportunities derived from the global information economy be as broadly available as possible – from the poorest to the richest nations. Improving the availability and affordability of internet in the less-advanced nations will certainly be the key instrument and effective means to bridge the technology gap between the North and the South.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

5) The world in the 21^st century will unequivocally be more integrated and more interdependent. Goods, services, investment, and information can be traded or exchanged in a much cheaper and faster manner through the increased connectivity. Sizes of the firms and locations of buyers or sellers will become irrelevant in this new trading era. The internet has made inroads into commerce and redefined our international trade. In this light,

e-commerce is presumably a possible major driving force for ASEAN's long-term economic growth since it has immense potential to further expand our reach in the global market.

6) A case in point: for a country such as Thailand, small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) account for a large portion of the national economy in terms of output and employment. As such, the healthy SMEs will definitely play a critical role in our economic outcomes. In the past, most of these SMEs made up a majority of the domestic businesses and being limited to foreign trade with neighbouring countries since the costs of promoting their products through overseas roadshows in the USA or Europe were substantial. At present, they can, however, enter and compete in the global marketplace by going online (assuming that their products are in demand and their prices are competitive). The power of e-commerce will undoubtedly reduce the roles of middlemen and overseas representative offices. Many procedures such as marketing, ordering, delivery, and payments can be carried out easily and economically over the internet. This global e-commerce will makes possible economies of scale even if the SMEs are located in a developing country with a small domestic market.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

8) Yet, the maximum potential of e-commerce cannot be fully realised without the effective and extensive groundwork being laid down at regional and national levels. Last year, the Ministers at the 31^st AEM meeting in Singapore decided to establish an e-ASEAN space which comprises, inter alia, a Free Trade Area for goods, services and investment in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector. A high level e-ASEAN task force was set up with a mandate to develop a broad-based and comprehensive action plan to analyse the necessary physical, legal, logistical, social and economic infrastructure for ASEAN to maintain its competitiveness in the global commerce.

9) On the national level, the government also has an important role in creating an environment that is conducive to the growth of e-commerce. This can be accomplished by providing adequate telecommunication networks, lowering the cost of internet access, and proper planning for the future of this sector. Furthermore, a sound legal framework must be drawn up to legally recognise electronic contracts and consumer protection must be provided to boost public confidence in e-commerce transactions.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

10) In the case of Thailand, one million people out of the total population of 60 million are currently internet users and approximately 5 percent of the households own personal computers. At present, our teledensity is about 10 telephone lines per 100 people and the number is expected to increase to 16 by the year 2005. The Thai government regularly invests in telecommunication networks in order to expand both domestic and international bandwidth. These will result in higher network capacity and speed of data transmission. Moreover, our telecommunication sector is being further liberalized. According to the Telecommunications Master Plan, the Telephone Organization of Thailand (TOT) and the Communication Authority of Thailand (CAT) are now undergoing the privatisation process. In addition, an independent National Regulatory Body will be established to take up the regulatory responsibility. Our goals are to increase teledensity and decrease the telephone rates. As a result, this will positively contribute to a decrease in internet access cost, an increase in the number of internet users and thus internet commerce.

11) The government has also carefully formulated two national plans and one policy framework on how to transform the nation into the knowledge-driven economy. Firstly, Information Technology Plan, known as IT 2000 Plan, was adopted in 1998 as government’s guidelines to use IT as a tool for Thailand’s further social and economic development. This particular Plan has three major objectives namely (1) the establishment of a National Information Infrastructure (2) the building of an adequate IT manpower base and (3) the investment in good governance. Secondly, the Strategic Master Plan on Electronic, Computer, Telecommunications, and Information Technology for the period 2000-2009 or ECTI 21 has been launched early this year. It emphasizes the government’s policy approach toward R&D as a critical factor for fostering growth in the era of New Economy.

12) A national policy framework has been drawn up to ensure that all government agencies' efforts in the further development of electronic commerce are well concerted so that they will move forward in an orderly manner. This draft Framework suggests a set of principles, and presents a series of policies to facilitate the growth in e-commerce. Regulation and bureaucratic procedures that may impede the development of electronic commerce must be avoided. Government should continue the responsibility of ensuring infrastructure development, broad access, and provision of essential services, creating a workforce with necessary skills and providing a reliable legal environment to support e-commerce.

13) Undeniably, a sound legal framework and regulatory environment must be put in place for e-commerce to prosper. All players involved must be assured of the fair and transparent rules of games before investing in this business. To this end, NECTEC has been mandated to draft several IT-related laws. The Electronic Transactions Bill and the Electronic Signature Bill were approved by the Cabinet in March 2000 and are currently being scrutinized by parliament. And, the Electronic Transactions Act, Electronic Signature Act, Universal Access Act, Computer Crime Act, Electronic Funds Transfer Act, and the Data Protection Act will be enacted afterwards.

Training – Human Resources

14) Of all the challenges we are faced with, the most difficult ones are probably the development of human capacities and the necessary skills, namely computer literacy and internet-related skills. Our citizens should be provided with an opportunity to be ready and able for the challenges in an era of the World Wide Web. The Thai government has been aware of the pressing need to invest in our children’s education in Information Technology and electronic commerce. Thus, a number of projects were initiated by various government agencies to make improvements in the area of human resources. The SchoolNet program was launched in late 1995 as a pilot project aiming at providing internet access to public secondary schools throughout Thailand. It was then merged with Golden Jubilee Network in February 1998 to create a large-scale nationwide IP network. As of now, fifteen hundred schools have joined the program and a massive expansion of the network to cover 5,000 schools was approved by the cabinet. Apart from providing PCs and access to the internet to the participating schools, NECTEC also works on the creation of the programs in Thai language and provides teachers’ training.

 AEM

Ladies and Gentlemen,

15) As for the recent 32^nd AEM meeting in Chiang Mai, much has been accomplished at this particular conference. Among other things, the Ministers have also considered and approved the drafted Framework Agreement on e-ASEAN. It focuses on establishing an ASEAN information infrastructure, facilitating e-commerce, setting up a common marketplace for ASEAN information and communication technology, a goods and services free trade area, e-society development and the creation of e-government. This e-ASEAN drafted agreement will soon be presented before the ASEAN leaders at the informal ASEAN Summit in Singapore for their final approval and signatories next month.

16) In closing, the 21^st century will be full of opportunities and challenges. In order to prosper in this era, SMEs must be able to apply the best available means such as e-commerce to further their market horizons while reducing costs. National governments have responsibilities for providing these firms with an e-commerce friendly environment. The necessary conditions are adequate telecommunication networks, low-cost internet access, capable human resources, and consumer protection as well as a sound legal framework. On the regional level, the e-ASEAN task force has done its part in developing a comprehensive action plan for the ASEAN nations. The

e-ASEAN Framework Agreement will surely play an important part to ensure that ASEAN can realise a fair share of the e-commerce’s potentials. With our collective efforts, internet will soon be widely accessible as well as affordable. As such, it can be used to stimulate our economic growth, improve our living standards, provide greater access to information and knowledge abroad, and help secure our path to sustainable development. And I want to take this opportunity to commend this e-ASEAN Task Force under the outstanding leadership of His Excellency Mr. Roberto Romulo for making our dream and vision closer to reality.

Thank you very much.

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