UNCTAD Regional Conference

ICT Strategies for Competitiveness and Development:
.
Promoting E-business, Trade Facilitation and Logistics 
in Latin America and the Caribbean

Rio de Janeiro, 25-27 November 2003
Copacabana Palace Hotel

Organized in cooperation with the

Government of Brazil

and the

Latin American Technological Information Network - RITLA

Background

UNCTAD, in cooperation with the Government of Brazil and the Latin American Technological Information Network will convene a regional High-level Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean on ICT Strategies for Competitiveness and Development: Promoting E-business, Trade Facilitation and Logistics, to be held in Rio de Janeiro from 25 to 27 November 2003.

Topics

The Conference will focus on the application of ICTs and e-business in Latin America and the Caribbean with a particular emphasis on the improvement of the export competitiveness of the economies of the region. The Conference will consider policies and strategies that can enhance the contribution of ICT and e-business to economic development and regional economic integration. Particular attention will be paid to issues of trade facilitation, transport and logistics. 

Proceedings and outcome

The first two days of the Conference will begin with a discussion of current national and regional initiatives in ICT strategies for development both in general and in the field of trade facilitation and logistics. This will be followed by two tracks of thematic working groups running in parallel.

One track will examine broad ICT polices and experiences addressing questions such as the promotion of access and use of ICT by businesses, the role of open source software in e-business development and the creation of e-business skills. Another track will deal with aspects such as new safety and security requirements and the role of ICT in meeting them, ICT applications for trade facilitation, transport information communities and transport networks in Latin America and the Caribbean. Legal and regulatory questions, as well as regional initiatives dealing with e-commerce and transport and transport infrastructure will also be discussed.

The Conference will close with a Ministerial Session that will establish an agenda for action aimed at achieving specific objectives at regional and national levels to make more effective use of ICTs for competitiveness and development. In this connection, participants could formulate a common position regarding international initiatives on ICTs and e-commerce, addressing in particular the World Summit on the Information Society. The declaration of the conference would be a contribution to the preparatory process of UNCTAD XI, as well as of the World Summit on the Information Society to be held in Geneva in December 2003.

Participation

Participants, including high-level Government officials, private sector and civil society representatives, will share experiences in designing and implementing national and regional ICT strategies and will discuss best practices and issues in e-business development. Governments are therefore invited to designate a delegation composed of high-level government representatives and experts from the private sector and civil society for participation in this Conference.