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Electronic Commerce Strategies for Development:

Promoting an International Dialogue

Regional High-level Conference for Africa
Tunis, 19-21 June 2003

Objectives
The principal objective of this meeting is to sensitize countries, Governments and civil society to the opportunities and risks created by information and communication technologies (ICT) and electronic commerce and to promote activities that aim to reinforce the capacities of action of African countries in the digital economy. 

The participants will endeavor to reinforce an African position in the context of the international initiatives launched in particular by the General Assembly of the United Nations, and more specifically for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) that will be held in Geneva in December 2003 and Tunis in 2005.

Topics 
The Conference will provide an opportunity for joint deliberation on a regional level and would profit from the experience of a number of more advanced countries in this field. It will promote the development of strategies at the national and international level for the development of the electronic commerce. Based on accepted best practice, the meeting will identify the principal elements of national and regional strategies that promote electronic commerce and contribute to the reduction of the digital divide. Policy, normative, legal, economic and technical issues related to electronic commerce and trade and development will be discussed during the first two days of the Conference.

Outcome
At the end of the meeting, a declaration of principles on "the electronic commerce for development" aimed at facilitating the development of the digital economy will be adopted by the representatives of African Governments. The declaration will express the political commitment of Governments to support electronic commerce as an economic force of development in the region, while taking into account cultural, social and economic disparities. It will provide a locus for the dialogue between African countries and their partners in the international community on the issues of the digital economy.

Participants
The meeting will offer all principal decision makers (public sector, private sector, civil society, International and regional Organizations, and Non-Governmental Organizations) a great opportunity to discuss the risks and benefits provided by the digital economy and electronic commerce, and to contribute to the definition of an action plan to promote fair, comprehensive and sustainable trade and development.