Asean Broadband Corridor To Be Announced Thursday

From Noor Farhana Ahmad Norian NAY PYI TAW (Myanmar), Dec 8 (Bernama) -- The initialization of the Asean Broadband Corridor and the Asean Internet Exchange will be announced at the 11th Asean Telecommunication and Information Technology Ministers Meeting (Telmin) which starts here Thursday. A Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission spokesman said the meeting would also discuss the adoption of information and communication technology (ICT) by the small-medium entrepreneurs (SMEs) in Asean countries. Being the backbone of businesses in Asean, the greater adoption of ICT by SMEs is hoped to help them become more efficient in handling their business and be competitive with the larger companies, he told Bernama here today. The two-day Telmin, to be opened by Myanmar President Thein Sein at the Myanmar International Convention Centre here will gather telecommunication ministers from all 10 Asean member countries, namely Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Malaysia will be represented by Information Communication and Culture Minister Dr Rais Yatim. The 11th Telmin was preceded by a three-day 12th Asean Telecommunication and Information Technology Senior Officials Meeting (Telsom) which concluded Wednesday. The official said Telsom had discussed the implementation of the Asean ICT Masterplan 2015 (AIM2015) that was launched in Kuala Lumpur last January. Malaysia was represented by Information Communication and Culture Ministry secretary-general Kamaruddin Siaraf. The official said that the meeting agreed that after 11 months, Malaysia had done a good job in moving the initial work, including to re-align the institutional framework of the masterplan, according to its six thrusts. The six thrusts included economic transformation, people empowerment and engagement, innovation, infrastructure development, human capital development and bridging the digital divide. AIM2015 is a strategic document to bring the Asean ICT sector to a higher level and to reinforce the role of ICT for Asean integration. -- BERNAMA