MESSAGE

In the past twenty years, we have seen how technology has and more, to dominate the course of economies and the lives of people. It has become an increasingly important component of production, tool of commerce, and channel to the world's store of knowledge. At the same time, technological change has been taking place with increasing rapidity, steadily shortening product cycles, moving ever more quickly across increasingly porous national boundaries, linking national economies more closely than ever before.
Rapid technological change, as manifested in the rapid advances in communications, transportation and information technology and in materials science and technology, has been creating, in decisive ways, a truly global economy. This, in turn, gives rise to new opportunities, new ways of doing business, new modes and unprecedented speeds of travel, and more efficient and incredibly rapid ways of acquiring information. The global economy thus created, in turn, further speeds up technological change.
Science and technology can no longer be dealt with apart from other elements of the economy and society. Science and technology have become inseparable parts of the economic system, the fabric of society, and the very substance of people's lives.
The mutually strengthening forces of science and technology and economic globalization can - and do - work for both good and ill. They have made possible tremendous improvements in people's lives in any number of ways - communications, power generation, food production, land, sea and air transport, health care, education. They have also wrought havoc on those same people's lives; we have seen how the financial crisis has been brought about by the rapid and uncontrolled flow of short-term capital in and out of countries and regions made possible by information and communications technology.
The challenge for ASEAN is to work ever more closely together so as to mitigate the dangers arising from the rapid pace of technological change and globalization and to use technology effectively to raise the quality of people's lives. Technology can make possible enormous improvements in such areas as agricultural productivity, industrial development, public health, and environmental protection. It can also make it easier to achieve these improvements through more efficient communications and the sharing of data and insights. We can make this happen most effectively by pooling the resources and expertise that we have in our own region.
This is why ASEAN has, from its earliest days, placed primary importance on the closest regional cooperation in science and technology.

RODOLFO C. SEVERINO, JR.
Secretary-General