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Joint Press Statement of the 4th Conference of ASEAN Ministers Responsible for Information
Singapore, 7 March 1996 |
1. The Fourth Conference of ASEAN Ministers Responsible for Information was held on 7 March 1996 in Singapore.
2. The Conference was attended by HE Pehin Dato Isa bin lbrahim, Special Adviser to His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam in the Prime Minister's Office and Minister of Home Affairs; HE Mr Harmoko, Minister of Information of the Republic of Indonesia; HE Dato' Mohamed Rahmat, Minister of Information of Malaysia; HE Mr Hector R. R. Villanueva, Press Secretary of the Repubhc of The Philippines; HE BG (NS) George Yeo, Minister for Information and the Arts of Singapore; HE Mr Piyanat Watcharaporn, Minister to the Prime Minister's Office of Thailand; HE Mr Tran Hoan, Minister for Culture and Information of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam; and their respective delegations. HE Dato' Ajit Singh, Secretary-General of ASEAN and members of his staff were in attendance.
3. The Conference was opened by HE Mr Goh Chok Tong, the Prime Minister of Singapore.
4. The Ministers reviewed developments and deliberated on issues of interest to ASEAN pertaining to information. At the conclusion of the Conference, the Ministers:
4.1. Agreed on the need for more co-operation to manage the new information technology for the benefit of ASEAN. In the area of broadcasting, the Ministers agreed to task a group of ASEAN technical experts to meet in Kuala Lumpur and put up a report on an ASEAN Satelite Channel. Such a Channel would be a major collaborative effort by the Governments and the Private sectors of the ASEAN countries to utilise available knowledge, skills and resources in the field of satelite communication.
4.2. Agreed that ASEAN should also face the challenges and seize the opportunities which the new media, in particular the Internet, have brought about. They felt that ASEAN should share expertise on and co-operate in evolving measures to address these challenges.
4.3. Agreed to further develop and expand the ASEANWeb on the Internet. The ASEANWeb would provide a broad umbrella homepage, while the detailed perspectives would be established with hyperlinks to homepages set up by member countries.
4.4 Agreed that a forum for regulators be organised within the year in Singapore, to share experiences in the formulation of appropriate responses to the Internet and other advances in information technology for the consideration of individual ASEAN Governments in their approaches to the Internet. The forum would also engage the advice of experts to address the rapid changes in the field. The forum could also share information and expertise on issues relating to the print, electronic and broadcast media.
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