Introduction

The TICAD Workshop 2002 was held in Cotonou, Republic of Benin, from 9-12 July 2002, for high level policy advisors from public and private sectors involved in the formulation and implementation of ICT policies for development from 23 African countries. The workshop followed up on to the Africa- Asia workshop held in Malaysia in March 2002 for a group of policy makers from nine African countries and organized by APDIP in collaboration with the Economic Planning Unit of the Malaysian government.

The objective of the TICAD Workshop 2002, was to share successful Asian experiences of public-private partnerships for the formulation and implementation of ICT policies presented by Asian resource persons and to identify opportunities of Asia-Africa cooperation in select areas . The theme of the workshop was “Asia-Africa Cooperation and Public-Private Partnership in Promoting ICT Policies In Africa”.

Workshop Objectives

The workshop was a high level expert meeting aimed at achieving the objectives of:

• Enriching national ICT policies and strategies through enhanced exchanges between African countries and Asian experiences;
• Creating an Asia Africa network of experts and policy advisors, to carry on the initial contacts made in the workshop and concretize them into Asia-Africa partnerships on ICT.

Thematic Roles of Asian Resource Persons

Six Asian Resource Persons shared their experiences at the TICAD workshop in the following areas:

• Public/ Private Partnership in Support to Pivate Investment in the Area of ICT by Mr. Mohamad Shaari, (Under Secretary, Infrastructure and Access, Ministry o f Energy, Communications ad Multimedia, Malaysia)
• Utilization of ICT to Improve Services to the Public , including e- Government by Dr . B.K. Gairola (Deputy Director General, National Informatics Centre, Ministry of Communication & Information Technology, India)
• Integrating ICT in Education Curriculum for Increased Contribution to the Global Economy by Dr Nordin Othman (Partner, Mercatela, Malaysia)
• Community Information Services and Technology: Case Studies from India by Dr Rajesh Rajora (Collector, Balaghat District , Madhya Pradesh, India)
• The Institutional Strategy of Pakistan for the Promotion of ICT for Policy Formulation and Implementation by Dr Aamir Matin (CEO, Xavor Pakistan Ltd ., Lahore, Pakistan)
• Opportunities for Asia-Africa Cooperation by Patricia Chia (Director, External Assistance Section, Economic Planning Unit, Malaysia).

The TICAD Cotonou 2002 Workshop is organized by the TICAD unit in New York.