Singapore will host the upcoming third APEC Ministerial Meeting on the Telecommunications and Information Industry (TELMIN3) from 3-5 June 1998. TELMIN3 will see the gathering of Ministers from the APEC member ...
Singapore, 19 December 1997 | For Immediate Release
Singapore will host the upcoming third APEC Ministerial Meeting on the Telecommunications and Information Industry (TELMIN3) from 3-5 June 1998. TELMIN3 will see the gathering of Ministers from the APEC member economies at The Ritz Carlton Millennia Singapore. TELMIN3 will be opened by Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and chaired by Minister for Communications, Mr Mah Bow Tan. Comprising 18 of the world's most dynamic and fastest growing economies, APEC is an organisation dedicated to facilitating trade, investment and developing co-operation among the Pacific Rim countries. Member economies include Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, People's Republic of China, Hong Kong SAR, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Philippines, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, United States of America. Peru, Russia and Vietnam will be admitted as new members in 1998.
The APEC Telecommunications Working Group (TEL) was formed in 1990 with a view to promoting and encouraging the development of telecommunications services and equipment within the APEC region. Major goals for TEL include working towards fulfilling the Bogor Declaration's goal of free trade and investment, and developing an Asia-Pacific Information Infrastructure (APII) - which is a seamless network envisioned to electronically link all APEC member economies.
The Ministerial meeting will be preceded by a Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) from 1-2 June 1998. Senior APEC telecommunication officials will discuss and prepare proposals for Ministers' endorsement at TELMIN3. The agenda will focus on reviewing progress made by TEL in improving development co-operation, advancing the development of the APII, enhancing human resource development, facilitating business within APEC and promoting greater liberalisation among APEC member economies.
TELMIN3 will also discuss issues such as the scope of TEL's mandate in an era of rapid technological and industry convergence. In addition to considering important info-communication issues affecting Pacific Rim economies, TELMIN3 is expected to feature more high-level dialogue between Ministers and industry officials. The involvement of the private sector will ensure that decisions adopted by TEL will ultimately be relevant and beneficial to the private sector. TELMIN3 will also feature live demonstrations of APII applications run on the Singapore ONE broadband infrastructure, in order to showcase the potential benefits of the APII to the Ministers.
Singapore is honoured to host TELMIN3, which will be an opportunity for Singapore to contribute constructively to the APEC process. Singapore is currently Vice Chair of the APEC Telecommunications Working Group (APEC TEL) and will take over as Chair in 1999. A special APEC TELMIN3 website, initiated by TAS, was developed to provide latest updates of the event. The site will be hyperlinked to relevant websites such as APEC and TAS.
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