ASEAN telecom and IT ministers meet in Cebu

CEBU, Philippines - Information and Communications Technology (ICT) ministers and senior officials from 10 ASEAN member states and dialog partners from other countries will be in Cebu on November 12 to 16 for the 13th ASEAN Telecommunications and IT Senior Officials Meeting (Telsom), and the 12th ASEAN Telecommunications and IT Ministers Meeting (Telmin).

The five-day conference, which will be held in Mactan  will be hosted by Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

DOST secretary Mario G. Montejo is the chairman of the Telmin event, while leading the Philippine delegation of senior officials is undersecretary Louis Napoleon C. Casambre of the DOST-Information and Communications Technology Office.

Delegates from the ASEAN member states will also be joined by dialog partners from China, India, Korea, the European Union and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

The group will discuss the region’s progress in ICT relative to the ASEAN ICT Masterplan (AIM) and map out policy directions for ASEAN’s ICT Initiatives for the coming year.

“We are looking forward to hosting this very important gathering and exchanging ideas with our ASEAN counterparts, as well as exploring new avenues of cooperation with our dialogue partners. The Philippines is looking at playing a more active role in ICT development in the ASEAN region, particularly in the areas of ICT infrastructure and people empowerment,” Casambre said.

One of the key events at the conference is the signing of the Mactan Cebu Declaration which aims to improve cooperation between ASEAN member states in ICT related endeavors such as cybersecurity, e-commerce as well as implement strategic thrusts put forth in the ASEAN ICT Masterplan.

Other events happening during the weeklong conference are  An ASEAN – UNCTAD workshop on e-Commerce law harmonization, the awarding ceremonies for the first ever ASEAN ICT Awards, as well as an informal meeting of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia Malaysia, and the Philippines East ASEAN Growth area (BIMP-EAGA) Telecom and IT Ministers.

 —(FREEMAN)