[asia-apec 431] parallel apec meeting in Malaysia

[Roberto Verzola]

To the asia-apec list: (asia-apec at jca.ax.apc.org)

Before the APEC parallel meetings of NGOs in 1996 in Manila, we tried
to convince the organizers to include a track on
information/communications technology, to no avail. Interdoc held its
own conference on the same venue as one of the tracks in the hope of
sensitizing the NGO participants on the importance of the emerging
global information economy, but to little avail.

Before the parallel meeting in Canada, I again wrote to the organizers
to include the global information economy as a track in the
discussions. Friends to went to Canada to attend say the topic was not
discussed much.

For the parallel meetings in Malaysia, I will again propose that the
emerging GIE be discussed as a track, for the following reason:

North America and Europe are emerging information economies. Such
economies have different needs from predominantly industrial
economies. These needs are driving the APEC negotiations, which is why
the agreements that the US pushed hard to conclude are the Info Tech
Agreement and the Telecomms Agreement. We must understand the nature
and needs of an information economy, if we want fresh insights into
the negotiating positions of an information economy like the US.

The spread of Info/Comms Technology represents an impending massive
substitution of labor by capital. This is a direct threat to labor and
labor movements. As ICT reduces the demand for labor, the negotiating
position of labor is greatly weakened. As the demand for capital
(infrastructure, technology) increases, huge new markets are created
for information economies, allowing them to consolidate their early
lead in this area.

The most strident demand nowadays of information economies is IPR
protection. This means they want protectionism, if it concerns their
products, but not if it refers to products of developing countries.
IPR is control of information, and thus is directly related to the
emergence of the global information economy.

I hope the parallel meeting organizers will this time recognize that a
parallel meeting will miss a major aspect of APEC if it continues to
gloss over the emergence of the global information economy, and
include this issue as a track.

Regards to all,

Roberto Verzola
Interdoc Asia-Pacific / Philippine Greens