Skip to main content

2000 APEC Ministerial Meeting on the Telecommunications and Information Industry

Cancun, Mexico | 23 - 25 May 2000
We, the APEC Ministers responsible for the telecommunications and information industry, gathered at Cancun, Mexico, 24-26 May, 2000,
reaffirming the APEC Economic Leaders' Declaration, - The Auckland Challenge - at Auckland, 1999 which states that through APEC, we seek to expand opportunities for business and employment growth, build strong and open markets and ensure that our communities can participate successfully in the international economy.
responding to - The Auckland Challenge - in which the APEC Economic Leaders:
  1. declared their intention to strengthen markets by:
    • Providing greater transparency and predictability in corporate and public sector governance
    • Enhancing the role of competition to improve efficiency and broaden participation by enterprises
    • Improving the quality of regulation and the capacity of regulators to design and implement policies for sustainable growth Reducing compliance costs and facilitating business growth
    • Building a favorable regional and international environment for free and fair competition.
  2. emphasized the importance of continued multilateral and bilateral support reaffirming the Bogor Declaration to achieve free and open trade and investment by 2010/2020, and to set the course which will allow for sustainable development .
  3. affirmed the need to strengthen our markets through regulatory reform and enhanced competition and by improving the international framework, especially the multilateral trading system to expand opportunities for business and employment growth,
  4. noted that the effective development and application of knowledge will be a key driver of future economic success, especially when cooperation is strengthened in the fields of education, science and technology and life-long skills development.
  5. recognized the key role that electronic commerce will play in linking APEC economies, considering that greater participation of the private sector, small, medium and large enterprises, will ensure success for our economies to innovate and create wealth,
reaffirming also our commitment to strengthen the Asia-Pacific Information Infrastructure to be able to respond effectively to the rapid pace of convergence and technological changes that are bringing new opportunities for education, health, finance, research, science and technology, commerce, economic and social development and entertainment.
inspiring our work on the promotion of an Asia Pacific Information Society (APIS) with love and caring, and in close collaboration with the private/business sector, by addressing in a cooperative manner those challenges posed by convergence through initiatives and projects developed within the Telecommunications Working Group (TEL);
recognizing that convergence may raise new and unprecedented complex issues which might require innovative approaches to respond effectively further facilitating businesses and to foster greater infrastructure development and access to telecommunications and information services;
highlighting that rapid technological developments and convergence may have a different impact on each economy’s growth and pace to adapt to the new environment, requires that special attention be paid to collaborate in order to avoid further dividing our region and our people between the information rich and information poor;
underlining our commitment to the objectives and principles outlined in the Seoul Declaration as the means for expanding the APII in a pro-competitive manner, to obtain the benefit and enormous potential of the global information economy for the people of the region;
acknowledging the importance of the information and telecommunications sector to the growth of electronic commerce; the convergence across industry sectors brought on by growth in electronic commerce; and, desirous of ensuring that the information and telecommunications infrastructure is ready, and that industry is prepared to play its part in supporting the growth of electronic commerce, thus, reaffirming our commitment to implementation of the Reference Framework for Action on Electronic Commerce agreed at TELMIN3 and the APEC E-Commerce Blueprint for Action;
reiterating our commitment to work cooperatively with the private/business sector with lifelong learning and skills development, benefiting from the cultural diversity of our region, to allow our communities, people and businessess access to a reliable and affordable Asia-Pacific Information Infrastructure and encouraging continuing cooperation on research and development to address the challenges that convergence may pose;
believing that APEC economies can contribute to lessening the digital divide and effectively address growth, access and connectivity with the active participation of the private/business sector as well as through regional cooperation;
emphasizing the need for sound and sustainable economic development in the region, and the essential role that TEL plays in promoting pro-competitive environment that will enhance the development of telecommunications and information infrastructure to achieve the APII and APIS;
confirming the importance of working with PECC and other business, academic, users and consumer groups to participate in both the planning and implementation of the APEC work so as to ensure timely consultation on policy priorities based on the evolution of the market and the needs of constituents for technical, human and financial resource development in the telecommunications and information fields; and,
supporting the various action plans endorsed by the previous Ministerial Declarations on Telecommunications and Information Industry at Seoul, Gold Coast and Singapore.
Ministers HEREBY ADOPT the Program of Action for TEL attached as Annex A . Ministers note that this Program of 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 Bandar Seri Begawan, in November 2000.
Ministers ALSO ADOPT the APEC Principles on International Charging Arrangements for Internet Services attached as Annex B . Ministers also reaffirm the importance of cost sharing or other mutually beneficial arrangements of this issue for coninued expansion of the APII.
Ministers FURTHER ADOPT the APEC Principles of Interconnection attached as Annex C and recall their importance in establishing an environment that encourages in a multi-operator market.