Minister Lauds China, Japan Ties At TELMIN
By Azrol Azmi & James Kon

Bandar Seri Begawan - "China is an important partner to Asean with whom industry players can share experiences and knowledge," said Minister of Communications, Pehin Date Seri Setia Awang Haji Abu Bakar, as chairman of first Asean-China TELMIN meeting held yesterday at the Indera Kayangan Ballroom, The Empire Hotel and Country Club.

The TELMIN+1 meeting was part of a series of dialogues between Asean ministers and TELMIN leaders with Asean dialogue partners from China, Japan, Korea and India.

Leading the delegation from China was Mr Xi Guo Hua, Vice Minister of Information Industry, China, who also served as co-chair at the meeting.

The Minister of Communications said the first AseanChina TELMIN meeting was timely as this year marks the 15' anniversary of the Asean China Dialogue.

The minister highlighted ICT cooperation between Asean and China, noting that business communities in Asean countries and China have established closer ties through various programmes on infrastructure, investment commercial projects, research and development, training and capacity building.

"During the Asean-China ICT week last year, we adopted the Beijing Declaration that specified a wide range of activities to diversify cooperation in the ICT industry. This reflects the desire and expectation of the governments of China and Asean countries to take cooperation to new heights," Pehin Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Abu Bakar said.

Touching on the Asean-China Information Superhighway that was proposed during the Asean-China ICT Ministerial Forum in Penang, Malaysia, the minister said, "I am convinced the development of an Asean-China Information Superhighway will promote greater information flow, inter-connectivity as well as online applications and services in the region.

"Today's dialogue represents a good opportunity to further exchange and share views on a follow-up of the Beijing declaration. The imperative is to make the best of our potential and further explore the possibilities of new cooperation areas," he added.

A press statement by the chairman stated the ministers expressed satisfaction on notable achievements under the Asean-China Workplan 2006. During the roundtable, exchange of information on regulatory regimes and an Asean-China Information Superhighway Working Group was established to guide the project feasibility study stage and plan and steer project implementation in the future.

China will continue to cooperate with Asean in 2007 covering, among others, a pilot project for rural communications and universal service, advancing joint network security activities and human resource development.

Ministers also agreed to finalise the Plan of Action to Implement the Beijing Declaration on Asean-China ICT Cooperative Partnership for Common Development, which will be signed at the 12th Asean Summit in Cebu, Philippiness in December.

The Plan of Action covers specifics and collective initiatives in the following cooperation areas: Information Infrastructure, Universal Service, Network and Information Security, Trade and Investment Facilitation, and Human Resource Development.

Meanwhile, in a similar meeting between Asean ministers and TELMIN leaders with Japan, the Minister of Communications said, "Asean and Japan share the same vision of progress and development for our respective governments and industry players to achieve their utmost potential and quality of life through ICT."

Representing Japan at the first Asean-Japan TELMIN Meeting was Mr Kan'ichiro Aritomi, Vice Minister for Policy Coordination, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications who also co-chaired the meeting.

In his opening remarks, Pehin Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Abu Bakar said, "Over the years, Japan has initiated several bilateral and multilateral cooperations under their Asian Broadband initiative with an aim to develop and upgrade Asia's capacity in ICT to make the region a world information hub. This includes a fibre optic cable link in Vietnam and telecommunications backbone network in Cambodia.

"This dialogue will address specific issues for Asean such as the Next Generation Network (NGN), Ipv6, rural access and RFID. Other important issues such as Internet International Exchange may also be explored to support the deployment and development of international gateways and international connections to promote broadband services in Asean."

At the meeting, ministers noted achievements such as cooperation in network infrastructure development, human resource development, R&D and policy dialogues in the ICT field based on the `Asia Broadband Programme' since 2003. The programme was revised in August 2006 with emphasis on Ipv6, NGN and broadband wireless network.

Ministers also agreed to intensify cooperation with focus on development of telecommunications infrastructure such as wireless technologies, human resource development, promoting information awareness as well as project cooperation on Japanese and other R&D activities with alliances in the standardisation and diffusion on NGN.

Asean ministers welcomed Japan's new projects for 2007 covering the preparation of e-Government Workshop (in association with the Asia-Pacific Telecommunity), eLearning seminar and Technology Assessment Study for Universal Service Obligation (USO). Ministers agreed that Asean and Japan can share experiences and complement each others' advantages and strengths for mutual benefit. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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