Singapore Declaration

1. underlined APEC’s resolve to achieve sustainable growth and equitable development and to unlock the full potential of the people who live here,
2. recognised the importance of telecommunications and information technology in building an Asia Pacific Information Society (APIS),
3. agreed that the Asia Pacific Information Infrastructure (APII) is an essential basis for ensuring the competitiveness of the region in the 21st century, and
4. agreed that electronic commerce is one of the most important technological breakthroughs of this decade;

recalling the Subic Declaration, 1996 in which APEC Leaders:

1. emphasised the importance of economic and technical cooperation in ensuring that liberalised trade contributed to sustainable growth and equitable development and to a reduction in economic disparities;
2. endorsed the Manila Action Plan for APEC (MAPA) which contained the first steps of an evolutionary process of progressive and comprehensive trade and investment liberalisation, including telecommunications services, by 2010/2020;
3. affirmed the urgency for the completion of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations in basic telecommunications services; and
4. noted that the public and private sectors should work closely together to stimulate investment in infrastructure, to achieve sustained growth;

renewing our commitment to accelerate efforts to bring the APII from vision to reality by implementing a broad range of practical projects and applications and by harmonising policy measures to advance the development of the APIS, which in turn, will contribute to creating the evolving Global Information Society (GIS);

1. the various directions of our Leaders to further develop the APEC telecommunications and information industry, and
2. the Action Plan endorsed at TELMIN2 at the Gold Coast in September 1996.

1. Ministers note that this Programme for Action for the telecommunications and information sector will contribute to the Action Plan to be considered at the APEC Economic Leaders’ meeting to be held at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 17-18 November 1998.
2. Ministers affirm that the four pillars of TEL’s work programme; namely, business facilitation, development cooperation, human resource development and liberalisation, remain valid and important parts of TEL’s work mandate to realise the APIS vision and to support APEC’s goals of trade and investment liberalisation and economic and technical cooperation.
3. Ministers recognise the considerable impact that rapid technological development and convergence will have on APEC economies. Ministers urge TEL to consider the scope of its activities within the context of these phenomena, so that TEL’s objectives and goals remain relevant in the new global telecommunications and information environment.
4. Ministers note that the dynamism of the telecommunications and information environment and changing expectations by member economies will require TEL to become ever more focused on its objectives and effective in its work. Ministers welcome TEL’s adoption of criteria to assist in evaluating project proposals, and urge TEL to be responsive to the need to formulate strategic priorities as its work programme expands.
5. Noting the continuing development gap that exists within APEC, Ministers direct TEL to pay particular attention to the need, highlighted recently by Leaders and Ministers responsible for Trade, to facilitate greater economic and technical cooperation activities to bridge this gap and help member economies regain their economic strength.
6. Ministers support the increased role which the business/private sector has come to play in TEL, and encourage TEL to continue to work co-operatively with ABAC, PECC and other representatives of the business/private sector with the aim of ensuring long-term sustained investment in infrastructure needs of the region and a flourishing telecommunications and information industry.
7. Ministers recognise the direction given by the Leaders in November 1997 that an APEC Electronic Commerce workplan be developed by November 1998. Noting the work of the APEC Electronic Commerce Task Force in developing this workplan for APEC, Ministers direct TEL to support the work of the Task Force.
   Business Facilitation
8. Ministers note with appreciation the long-standing work of TEL to facilitate and encourage governments, companies and individuals to conduct transactions electronically via the growing telecommunications and information infrastructure. Ministers further note TEL’s encouragement of the business/private sector to initiate and participate in the planning and deployment of services and infrastructure capacity. This is in line with the Leaders’ recognition of the private sector’s primacy in the development and use of electronic commerce in the region, which is key to economic growth in the next century.
9. Ministers direct TEL to continue its work to promote the use of emerging applications and the development of electronic commerce products and services. Ministers emphasise their belief that APEC has a unique opportunity to promote electronic commerce for businesses and consumers through:
1. efforts to harmonise the region’s electronic commerce policies, legal and regulatory practices;
2. facilitating the electronic delivery of government services, where appropriate; and
3. enhancing the development of electronic commerce infrastructure as well as services and applications relevant to Asia-Pacific users.
10. Ministers endorse the priority accorded by TEL to business integration and business-to-business systems in its work on EDI and Internet-based electronic commerce, as this supports efforts to strengthen regional economies and to liberalise trade and investment in the region.
11. Ministers welcome work already done to make known the policy issues for small business enterprises conducting business electronically in the APEC region. Ministers direct TEL to consider further areas for practical work to support the use of electronic commerce by Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), such as:
1. conducting surveys to measure their usage and uptake of these technologies and services;
2. conducting a study of the cost to SMEs of the telecommunications and information infrastructure and services that underpin
3. electronic commerce in the region; and
4. the study and, if and when appropriate, development, by the next APEC Ministerial Meeting on Telecommunications and Information Industry, of compatible and sustainable international charging arrangements for Internet services as electronic transactions become increasingly conducted over the Internet.
12. In undertaking a coordinated work plan on electronic commerce, Ministers emphasise the need to be mindful of the work of other APEC fora as well as of other international organisations in order to:
1. avoid duplication of efforts;
2. enhance collaboration and linkages with other fora, where possible, to take advantage of mutually beneficial activities; and
3. ensure that the unique perspectives and needs of APEC economies are considered and met.
13. Ministers note the need to promote pervasive consumer access to and use of electronic government and business services. Ministers welcome the increasing work of TEL in supporting consumer involvement in electronic commerce issues and instruct TEL to consider in its work:
1. consumer use of electronic commerce in the APEC region to conduct their day-to-day transactions such as, obtaining information, paying bills, transacting with government or municipal authorities and purchasing products and services; and
2. the identification of key issues that will affect consumer confidence and ability to use electronic commerce within the APEC region, in particular, issues of access, affordability, privacy and security.
14. In addition to its continued focus on the above, Ministers direct the four Steering Groups of TEL to undertake an expanded work programme to promote electronic commerce consistent with the reference framework document at Annex A and the decisions flowing from the APEC Task Force on Electronic Commerce.
    Development Cooperation
15. Recognising our Leaders’ decision to make the APII a priority for infrastructure development in APEC, Ministers reaffirm the critical importance of development co-operation activities to realise the concrete benefits of the APII. Ministers recognise that the APII underpins APEC’s overall economic infrastructure and is a vital prerequisite for the development of the APIS. Ministers call on TEL to continue its work to further the development of the APII.
16. Ministers note with appreciation and encourage TEL’s efforts to make the transition from vision to reality when developing the APII, as seen in the demonstrations on telemedicine, distance learning and electronic commerce applications, which Ministers witnessed this week.
17. Ministers encourage TEL to build on the practical work being done by the APII Cooperation Centre in Korea and the APII Technology Centre in Japan to further accelerate the development of the APII.
18. Ministers welcome the work done to promote business/private sector participation in telecommunications and information infrastructure development and encourage members to support it with practical implementation measures. Ministers direct TEL to expand collaboration with the business/private sector to support the development of the APIS, consistent with the priorities of member economies.
19. Ministers instruct TEL to undertake a systematic developmental needs assessment, so as to set strategic priorities for further economic and technical cooperation activities. Ministers further direct TEL to identify and develop applications and projects, which will be of particular benefit to developing economies with rural and under-served areas.
20. Ministers applaud the efforts of member economies to develop their broadband information infrastructures and encourage the efforts of TEL to interconnect these networks and test-beds, beginning with linkages between public institutions such as schools, universities, hospitals and libraries, so as to ensure that the benefits of the APII are experienced by citizens of the region.
21. Ministers direct TEL to encourage technical cooperation, collaborative research and development and voluntary technology transfer among member economies through the mechanism of joint APII research and development projects.
22. Ministers encourage member economies to enhance access to the APII, particularly in Internet infrastructure, by expanding high-bandwidth connectivity among economies. In this regard, Ministers request TEL to study how to create sustainable and equitable financing arrangements for the establishment of these links.
23. Ministers welcome TEL’s project on universal access to expand the reach of basic telecommunications services as a first step to achieving the APIS, noting the broad economic and social benefits of universal access and the corresponding costs of limited access. Ministers encourage economies to refer to the “Universal Access Principles” found in Annex B when developing policies in this regard.
    Human Resources Development
24. Ministers recognise that the development of, and investment in, the region’s human resources are essential to the achievement of their goal of balanced development of the APIS. Ministers note that TEL’s human resource development programmes must respond to the diverse needs of member economies.
25. Ministers welcome the determination of TEL to ensure that its human resource development activities support the priority objectives of TEL. Key among these in the next period will be human resource development activities to support:
1. expanded access to telecommunications services;
2. the implementation of the Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA);
3. development of regulatory regimes that promote competition, including management of interconnection arrangements; and
4. linkages with telecommunications training organisations in the region.
26. 26. Ministers direct TEL to continue to expand its work to provide the HRD support required for the development of the APII. Ministers further direct TEL to work with other training and development fora to ensure that economies are able to make use of the knowledge and techniques developed through the projects and studies carried out by these other fora.
27. Ministers recognise the importance of improving proficiency in the usage of available technologies and direct TEL to expand HRD activities to include training in the relevant skills to achieve the APII such as:
1. broadband networking;
2. multimedia technologies;
3. Internet applications; and
4. content production tools.
28. Ministers urge TEL to build on economies’ knowledge and experience through personnel exchanges, skills standards, practical training and distance learning to ensure the availability of an adequate corps of capable personnel to operate and use the telecommunications and information networks of the region.
29. Ministers further recognise the potential of the APII to deliver training tools to benefit APEC in general and direct TEL to work collaboratively with other working groups in APEC to explore how the APII can be utilised to address and support the training programmes of APEC as a whole. Ministers direct TEL to provide focused attention to the following areas:
1. expanding training initiatives to help member economies to meet the demands of a liberalised telecommunications
2. environment by acquiring skills for the knowledge economy;
3. developing distance learning systems using advanced technology, such as multimedia; and
4. building a HRD database to assist economies in developing HRD programs.
30. Ministers support the development by the International Telecommunication Union of a dedicated Centre of Excellence to develop, strengthen and focus human resource development activities in the Asia-Pacific region. Ministers instruct TEL to establish links, including virtual links, with the Asia-Pacific Centre of Excellence to be established and to work with the ITU and with other international fora, to establish coordinated and sustained training programmes in the region.
    Liberalisation
31. Ministers recognise that telecommunications trade and investment liberalisation is fundamental to the attainment of the APEC Leaders’ vision of free trade and investment by 2010/2020. Ministers commend TEL for the work it has done to assist member economies to adjust to the reality of global market liberalisation in the telecommunications and information sector and call upon TEL to continue to work to promote liberalisation to support expanded access to telecommunications and information infrastructure and services.
32. Recognising the need for policy and regulatory reform in this new environment, Ministers request TEL to explore collegial approaches to the regulatory and policy challenges presented by convergence and market liberalisation, as well as to support the work of other international fora in this regard.
33. Ministers direct TEL to assist member economies to implement the WTO Agreement on Basic Telecommunications. Ministers note that APEC member economies are in various stages of liberalising their telecommunications markets, and that there is diversity in the form and manner of these liberalisation activities. 
34. Ministers note that the WTO Reference Paper on Regulatory Principles (“Reference Paper”) could serve to establish a common understanding among economies on how an effective regulatory environment conducive to competition could be created, thereby assisting member economies in their transition to the new multilateral trade regime. Ministers also recall the Reference List of Elements of a Fully Liberalised Telecommunications Services Sector, which they recognised at their 1996 meeting to contain a good general description of what free and open trade and investment means in the telecommunications sector. Ministers note that both these documents could assist member economies to develop appropriate policy and regulatory approaches in a liberalised environment. To this end, Ministers direct TEL to promote:
1. improved understanding and implementation of the Reference Paper principles on:
2. competitive safeguards to prevent abuse of market power by a major supplier;
3. transparent, non-discriminatory interconnection at cost-oriented rates;
4. public availability of licensing criteria;
5. universal service;
6. establishment of an independent regulator; and
7. allocation and use of scarce resources.
8. the exchange of information among economies’ on their practical experiences in activities such as the corporatisation or
9. privatisation of telecommunications operators;
10. the development of a stable and effective telecommunications environment by:
11. encouraging effective and timely implementation of basic telecommunications services commitments of APEC WTO member economies;
12. assisting non-WTO APEC member economies in working toward the establishment of policies consistent with principles of the WTO Agreement on Basic Telecommunications;
13. supporting the prompt accession to the WTO of non-WTO members in accordance with WTO protocol and based on effective market access commitments, with a view to achieving universality of WTO membership; and
    playing a leading role in the development of next round of multilateral trade negotiations on telecommunications and information technology.
35. Ministers recognise that the post-WTO environment will usher in new international settlement rates arrangements. Ministers reiterate their firm support for activities now being undertaken by other international fora to achieve a comprehensive and balanced multilateral programme of reform. Ministers recognise that such a programme of reform must demonstrate a concrete commitment to action, but must also be flexible enough to accommodate differing levels of telecommunications development.
36. Ministers call upon TEL to continue work on measuring the benefits of liberalisation to users, and encourage economies to use, where appropriate, the “Indicators to Measure the Benefits of Liberalisation” developed by TEL.
37. Ministers recognise that it is crucial to establish fair and transparent interconnection and access arrangements to support competitive service provision. They endorse TEL’s efforts to develop guidelines on interconnection policy. Ministers also direct TEL to improve upon economies’ understanding and implementation of interconnection issues by:
1. creating a flexible, non-prescriptive framework containing the necessary principles to formulate interconnection arrangements in a manner that promotes fair and effective competition in the market and delivers benefits to users;
2. discussing appropriate and credible types of information needed as a basis for formulating interconnection arrangements;
3. identifying best practices for interconnection arrangements, including price benchmarks and time frames for negotiation; and
   increasing knowledge in APEC on how to develop and implement interconnection principles that promote fair and effective competition in the market.
38. Ministers endorse the Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) on Conformity Assessment for Telecommunications Equipment in the form shown in Annex C and direct TEL to take the following measures to support the MRA and encourage its implementation on a voluntary basis and in a timely manner, in order to ensure that all economies benefit as fully as possible from it:
1. An implementation project to provide practical advice to each economy to facilitate MRA participation which would:
   identify general tasks and issues that could arise for economies when implementing the MRA;
2. conduct research on the technical regulatory practices for telecommunications equipment among APEC economies in need of assistance in implementing the MRA to identify existing and potential legal, administrative and technical barriers to the implementation of the MRA; and
3. develop a comprehensive plan and schedule for addressing identified general and specific tasks that are necessary to the implementation of the MRA.
4. Development of best practice principles for technical regulation, to assist economies that are reconsidering their technical regulations to support the introduction of competition in the provision of telecommunications services.
39. Ministers recognise that an essential precondition for the success of the MRA is to boost member economies’ mutual confidence in the competence of conformity assessment bodies across APEC to test or assess conformity to an importing economy’s requirements. To that end, Ministers direct TEL to implement appropriate confidence-building activities, such as:
1. organising courses, seminars, personnel exchanges, inter-economy comparisons and joint audits to develop a greater familiarity with others' requirements and a greater commonality of approach; and
   encouraging member economies to institute systems of accreditation for Conformity Assessment Bodies, using guides such as ISO/IEC guides or recommendations issued by international bodies.
   
40. Ministers request each APEC member economy to voluntarily report on the implementation status of relevant items of the TEL Collective Action Plan (CAP).
    Enhanced Cooperation between the Public and Private Sectors
41. Ministers note the recent adoption of the Vancouver Framework for Enhanced Public-Private Partnerships in Infrastructure Development by Leaders, which commits to enhancing the partnerships between the public and private sectors to develop the infrastructure needs of member economies.
42. In response to the Leaders’ call and recognising the important role of the business/private sector in the development of the telecommunications and information industry, Ministers applaud the inaugural Minister-Industry Dialogue held during the 3rd APEC Ministerial Meeting on the Telecommunications and Information Industry in Singapore.
43. Ministers appreciate the perspectives and ideas offered by industry leaders and commend the wide range of interests represented at the Dialogue, including the user community, SMEs, trade associations, product manufacturers, Internet associations, the multimedia industry and telecommunications operators. Ministers recognise that these exchanges will help forge a greater partnership between the public and private sectors and urge TEL to take into consideration in its work programme the following points raised by the business/private sector:
1. Industry is committed to remaining engaged in the APEC process that demonstrate the commonality of concerns and objectives between public and private sector in the region to achieve the potential of the APIS;
2. Governments, businesspersons and users must learn from and with each other if they are to achieve the benefits to be had from the rapidly evolving telecommunications and information marketplace;
3. Governments should continue to accelerate efforts to liberalise markets, ensuring greater transparency of regulation, facilitate access and interconnection agreements, and address the privacy, security, authentication, and bandwidth pricing issues impeding network utilisation;
4. Governments and industry should work to facilitate accessible, affordable, and reliable mediums for voice, data and video information exchange and communications for users and providers of network services;
   TEL, in conjunction with the industry, should address efforts to accelerate human resources development if the promise of the APIS is to be achieved;
5. Both government and industry recognise the importance of utilising the Internet for service delivery and electronic business purposes;
6. Industry recognises its lead role in developing the market for digital communications and commerce, and welcomes the Ministers’ commitment to develop an environment conducive to the growth of electronic commerce in the region such as: having the government “lead by example” in its use of the Internet, assisting in the development of technologically skilled work forces and IT-literate consumers and involving in efforts to develop trust and consumer confidence in the Internet;
7. Industry and governments should work together to implement the MRA so as to expedite trade in the region; and
8. Governments to accelerate their work to develop and implement universal access principle and the interconnection framework.
   The Way Ahead for TEL
44. Ministers agree that a key challenge facing APEC economies is how to make the transition to knowledge-based societies. The advent of the APIS will create vast opportunities for growth and development but it will also require that our citizens acquire a new set of skills and competencies to live and do business.
45. In contributing to the creation of the APIS, Ministers believe that TEL can draw upon its key strengths; namely, its commitment to technological innovation, trade and investment liberalisation, its strong partnership with the business/private sector and its long-standing work in enhancing training and skills development in the Asia-Pacific region. Ministers recognise the importance of the pilot projects as a good working method to facilitate the achievement of this goal. Ministers recognise that there needs to be a balanced work agenda so that it respects the diversity of the region. Ministers also believe that TEL will have to forge strong partnerships with other relevant organisations, entities and APEC fora to fully exploit these strengths.