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Press Release on the first ICT Working Group at Director-General Level among Japan, China and Republic of Korea

16 September, 2001

The first ICT Working Group at Director-General Level among Japan, China and Republic of Korea was held in Okayama, on 16 September 2001.

Background

Recognizing the significance and necessity to build up cooperation among East Asian nations in the field of information and communications to promote common prosperity in all the economies, His Excellency Mr. Zhu Rongji, Premier of the State Council of the PRC, at the 4th ASEAN plus Japan, China and Republic of Korea Summit in November 2000 held in Singapore, proposed the setting up of a Japan-China-Republic of Korea ICT Working Group at the director-general level to give impetus to the all-round cooperation among the three countries in the area of information and communications and, in the meantime, make use of the existing advantages in talents and expertise of the three countries in a bid to enhance cooperation in the above-mentioned field between the three countries and the ASEAN countries, including giving support to the implementation of the e-ASEAN initiative. The proposal got very positive response from the leaders of Japan and Republic of Korea.

Participants

Participants of the meeting will be director-general and other officials from ICT Ministries as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the three countries. This first meeting was attended by director-general and other officials from ICT Ministries and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the three countries as well as by experts from RoK's research institution. Mr. Kazuo Asakai, Ambassador for International Economic Affairs and Global Environmental Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Japan, took the chair of the meeting.

Objective of the Working Group

This meeting has the following aims:

  1. Promote the full and all-round cooperation in the information and communications field among Japan, China and Republic of Korea;
  2. Make concerted efforts to propel the process of building an "e-ASEAN".

Terms of Reference

The Terms of Reference of the meeting are followings:

  1. Exchange of information on ICT related policies of each Government;
  2. Exchange information on status, systems and market regulations of respective countries' ICT sector;
  3. Exchange of information on ICT industry development strategies and policies and the overall situation of the industry;
  4. Formulate an effective mechanism to make better use of the ICT talents and expertise within the three countries (including both public and private sectors);
  5. Conduct research on the e-ASEAN initiative, study and identify the specific field for cooperation so as to speed up the implementation of e-ASEAN framework agreement.

Cycle of the Meeting

The meeting will be held annually in Japan, China and Republic of Korea on a rotating basis.
China has proposed to host the next meeting in July or August 2002.
Republic of Korea will host the meeting in 2003.

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