Japan, Singapore agree on IT development cooperation in Asia

Asian Economic News, Jan 22, 2001

SINGAPORE, Jan. 18 Kyodo

Japan and Singapore agreed to cooperate in helping new members of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) develop Information Technology (IT), visiting Japanese government officials said Thursday.

''Singapore is eager to assist less IT-developed countries in ASEAN, namely Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, to make the region more competitive in global economy,'' Wataru Nishigahiro, a leader of a Japanese government IT assistance mission to Southeast Asia told Kyodo News.

''Singapore and Japan will play significant roles as donors for those countries,'' he said after discussions with Singapore Info-communication Development Authority officials.

Nishigahiro, deputy director general of the Economic Cooperation Bureau at the foreign ministry, said both sides also agreed to intensify bilateral IT cooperation.

Nishigahiro and other officials are touring Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, and Malaysia to exchange views on Japan's support program for IT development under which Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori pledged to provide $15 billion in the next five years at Group of Eight Summit last July.

Before Singapore, the mission visited Jakarta and explained Japan was ready to assist developing telecommunication infrastructure and human resources in Indonesia, Nishigahiro said.