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U.S. Officials To Talk Telecom In China
by William New
Senior Bush administration officials will be in China later this month for a biennial, high-level meeting on telecommunications and information industries under the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.
The APEC meeting held every two years is the primary venue for the advancement of telecom issues among the countries that border the Pacific Basin. David Gross, a deputy assistant secretary of State, will lead the U.S. delegation and be joined by FCC Commissioner Michael Copps and Nancy Victory, director of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.
The theme of this year's meeting, to be held May 29-31 in Shanghai, will be "leveraging digital opportunities to promote common development." The meeting will be an opportunity for telecom ministers to exchange views on subjects important to them.
Several areas will be discussed including: the "digital divide," with input from government, industry and academic officials; information infrastructure; telecommunications policy and market regulation; and worker training.
The event is expected to result in a statement of policy, the "Shanghai Declaration," that will provide instructions for APEC's telecom working group for the next two years. The "sherpas," or senior officials, of the telecom group will arrive two days before the ministers to prepare the way.
National Export Strategy Includes Tech Use
Five core agencies of the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee on Tuesday presented the 2002 U.S. National Export Strategy report to the Senate Banking Committee, and the report included some comments on information technology use.
The interagency panel prepares the report annually. Its core agencies are the Commerce Department, Export-Import Bank, Overseas Private Investment Corporation, Small Business Administration, and Trade and Development Agency.
The report's recommendations include strategies for development of aid projects, better customer service for small, medium and large U.S. companies, and education and partnering to expand the use of export-promotion services.
In prepared testimony for the Banking Committee, Commerce Secretary Donald Evans emphasized the need to "fill in" behind trade agreements negotiated by the United States, and he said the way to do that is by ensuring that companies, especially small ones, have the information, expertise and financing they need to export goods and services.
The agencies suggested coordinating technology procurement to eliminate duplication and deliver more seamless services, creating online registration forms for use by all agencies, and sharing a client database. They also recommended that the Ex-Im Bank expand electronic access to export credit insurance services, and expand its information database for repeat customers.
In addition, the coordinating committee said the Foreign Agricultural Service should provide guarantees on electronic-payment mechanisms and support non-traditional letter-of-credit forms. It also said Commerce could make several improvements, including in "market research using technology solutions for collaboration between agencies," and by making access to export information easier through improved search capacity and an interagency portal.
The committee also proposed using the Web site BuyUSA.com to link foreign affiliates of U.S. multinational firms with small and medium-sized exporters, and having the Ex-Im Bank use the Internet to improve access to government working capital programs. Furthermore, the report said, Commerce should improve responsiveness to inquiries using advanced customer-relations technology, and the department should integrate export-control training at the Bureau of Industry and Security with other agencies.
Europe Pushes Small Businesses To 'GoDigital'
Like the United States, the European Union is placing an increased emphasis on helping small and medium-sized businesses get online. The body will hold a "GoDigital" conference Friday in Brussels, Belgium.
The event will address the successes and needs of small businesses since the GoDigital project to get nations online was launched one year ago. Highlighting the event will be Erkki Liikanen, the EU commissioner for enterprise and information society.
Liikanen also spoke in Madrid on Tuesday on convergence in the context of relations between Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean.
WTO Blames IT Industry For Lukewarm Economic Outlook
World Trade Organization economists are predicting world exports to increase by about 1 percent in 2002, after dropping 1 percent in volume in 2001. But they predict that a strong rebound is unlikely because of "sober prospects" for the information technology industries. By comparison, export volume increased 12 percent in 2000.
The WTO also found that the IT industry has a larger share in trade than in global output, which has led to a greater impact on trade. The difference is likely to be less in the future, the world body said.
High-Tech Industry Escapes European Retaliation
The high-tech industry appears to have dodged a bullet in trans-Atlantic trade disputes, as the European Union on Tuesday filed the lists of U.S. products it may retaliate against in response to President Bush's recent tariff decision on steel imports.
The EU lists filed at the WTO heavily emphasize U.S. steel, textiles and apparel and agriculture. The list ranges into less-traditional products as well, such as yachts and photocopying equipment, but contains no high-tech products. The object is to "try to push" the Bush administration on products that are "a response to the political decision on steel they took," an EU spokesman said.
Plus, in order to hit the administration more directly, the targeted products, which will face tariffs of up to 100 percent, tend to be from states and districts where congressional Republicans might feel the pinch of the retaliation, he said.
Japanese Magazine Editors Criticize 'Privacy' Bills
Two bills before the Japanese Diet have drawn the ire of magazine editors in the country who fear that they would violate the freedom of the press ensconced in the nation's constitution. The bills ostensibly are aimed at protecting privacy and human rights, but the editors say vague wording could lead to government control of the press, as reported by Japan Today.
Some editors say the bills, introduced by the dominant party in Japan, are an effort to prevent reporting on scandals involving government officials. The privacy bill contains rules for handling personal information, while the human rights bill takes aim at overly intrusive reporting.
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