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The Kuala Lumpur Declaration on ICT Policies and e-Strategies in Asia and the Pacific was endorsed by high-level Asian delegates at the Asian Forum on ICT Policies and e-Strategies, as Asia-Pacific input to the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) to be held in Geneva in December 2003.

The Forum was organized by the United Nations Development Programme’s Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme under the auspices of the United Nations Information and Communication Technology Task Force, supported by the Ministry of Energy, Communications and Multimedia, Malaysia, and jointly sponsored by the Government of Japan.

The 17 point declaration reflects the views of delegates comprising Ministers and senior government officials, as well as private sector and civil society representatives from 22 countries in the Asia Pacific region and regional and international organizations.

To ensure the views of developing nations of the Asia-Pacific region are not marginalized in the international discussions on formulating guidelines towards the Information Society at WSIS, emphasis was placed on specific policies on poverty reduction and the Millennium Development Goals, governance, gender, infrastructure and access, human capacity, content and applications, enterprises and entrepreneurs, and regional co-operation. The specific needs and interests of least developed countries, landlocked and developing island nations of the Asia-Pacific region were also highlighted.

The World Summit on the Information Society, which will be attended by global leaders and participants from civil society organizations; private sector; regional organizations and international organizations, seeks to develop and foster clear statements of political will and a plan of action for achieving the goals of the Information society, while reflecting the different views of nations and participants worldwide.

The Forum also featured a Ministers’ Roundtable, chaired by Datuk Amar Leo Moggie, Minister of Energy, Communications and Multimedia, Malaysia, which reviewed a range of issues and concerns on ICT policy and strategy formulation in the region while discussing the impact of global trends and development.

The delegates also agreed to re-convene an Asia-Pacific forum on ICT policies and e-strategies next year, to deliberate the outcomes of the WSIS process in Geneva, and review national and regional action plans while discussing common challenges in implementation.