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2010/TEL41/PLEN/002

Agenda Item: 1

Welcome Speech

Purpose: Information

Submitted by: Chinese Taipei

/ 41stTelecommunications and Information Working Group Meeting - Plenary Session
Chinese Taipei
10-12 May 2010

APEC TEL41 Plenary I

Welcome Speech

10 May, 2010

Chairperson of the NCC, Dr. Peng, Chairman of APEC TEL, Mr. Liu, Distinguished delegates, Ladies and gentlemen,

Good morning to all of you.

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to Chinese Taipei and the 41st Meeting of the APEC Telecommunications and Information Working Group. It is indeed a great privilegefor us to host such an event that brings so many of our friends across the Asia Pacific Region to Taipei. I hope you enjoy yourself in the time that you are with us and have some time to explore this lovely city.

Based on a cooperative spirit, the APEC TEL meeting provides a considerable platform for member economies to display their accomplishments. We very much anticipate learning from one another. Here I would like to highlight some of ours both in ICT infrastructure and service applications.

According to Global Information Technology Report 2009-2010 released by World Economic Forum (WEF), Chinese Taipei is ranked 11th of 134 economies worldwide in the Network Readiness Index, which highlights ICT as a determinant in increasing international competitiveness.

Asides from the high penetration of mobile telecommunications here, up to 116.6%, there are now more than 18 million users who have accessed the internet with a wireless connection.

Such statistics are in part contributed to the M-Taiwan project and its successor, the i-Taiwan project, which have the primary objective of accelerating economic recovery and development in Chinese Taipei. These projects also emphasize on the key role ICT plays in stimulating Chinese Taipei competitiveness with knowledge economy.

Bridging the digital divide in rural Chinese Taipei is another issue of great importance. We have spared no effort to promote broadband “Universal Service”, establish 168 digital opportunity centers in rural areas with PCs, internet access and training classes. WiMAX has become a viable solution to extend the “wireless city” experience to everywhere in Chinese Taipei. Six licenses have already been issued to stimulate new business models and provide affordable charges for subscribers. But there is much work yet to be done.

During the APEC TEL 41 meeting, in addition to the National Communications Commission (NCC), other government agencies of Chinese Taipei will be sharing some other achievements. Among others, the Research, Development and Evaluation Commission, for example, will demonstrate the e-government service it created, while the Ministry of Education will share its experiences of creating educational and career opportunities over the Internet in rural areas. Meanwhile, the Board of Foreign Trade, MOEA will introduce our paperless trading environment with ICT application which greatly increases efficiency.

They are challenges we face together and challenges we overcome together – primarily by learning from one another. We have already achieved so much with APEC TEL deliberations. I am keen to hear the achievements of yours and the outcome of the TEL41 meeting.

I would now like to conclude my remarks by thanking all of you once again for joining us.Please enjoy the Meeting! Enjoy Chinese Taipei!

Thank you very much.

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