KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has proposed to Asean telecommunications and information technology ministers (Telmin) to consider pooling their resources to improve pan-Asean connectivity.
By doing so, the cost of bandwidth in Asean could be lowered, he said.
"If we are able to accomplish this, inter-Asean connectivity will be greatly improved as will opportunities for enhancing Asean-originated content and value creation for Asean products and services.
"Much of our connectivity still routes to the US and Europe before reaching an Asean country," he said at the opening of the 10th Telmin meeting yesterday.
At the same time, Najib urged Telmin to develop a comprehensive plan for Asean to address cyber threats and cyber criminals, who were getting more sophisticated and posed great risks to any country and government.
"Steps must be taken to improve our capacity in dealing with such threats or they will cause irreparable damage to economies and our nations," he added.
The prime minister reminded Asean members not to forget their cultural roots and values as they embraced developments in ICT in the face of the onslaught of modernity and globalisation.
"We should never, in the name of development, compromise our values."
On ICT's contribution to a nation's economy, Najib said it played a vital role as a catalyst for sustainable development and growth.
Studies have shown that every 10 per cent increase in broadband penetration boosts gross domestic product by an average of 1.3 per cent and a 10 per cent increase in mobile tele-density results in a 0.7 per cent increase in GDP.
"Having said that, I must add that a mere increase in broadband penetration or cellular density in itself would not guarantee economic growth and an improved well-being of our people.
"These advancements in communications infrastructure must be coupled with real and concrete applications, which will increase productivity and economic output.
"New ways of providing applications and services should be explored and initiated across all sectors of the economy."
Today, more than 78 per cent of Asean citizens are using ICT in different facets of their lives. The sector employs nearly 12 million people and generates more than three per cent of Asean's GDP.
For Malaysia, Najib said the government had targeted an average of six per cent annual GDP growth through 2015 under the 10th Malaysia Plan, which had stated the central role of ICT in vaulting the country towards a high-income economy.
"I am pleased to share that our broadband penetration today is 55.6 per cent, surpassing our original target of 50 per cent by the end of last year.
"I am particularly proud that when I set the target in July 2007 in my capacity then as chairman of the Cabinet Committee on National High Speed Broadband, our penetration rate was hovering at 12.8 per cent," said Najib.
2011/01/13
By Azura Abas and Rozanna Latiff
news@nst.com.my
http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/2mix/Article/
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