[Index]
ELECTRONIC
SERVICES: PREPARING THE UNECE REGION
FOR THE CHALLENGE OF THE FUTURE
UNECE Forum "Trading into the future: e-services for trade,
investment
and enterprise", Geneva, 11-12 June 2001
Geneva, 26 June 2001
The Forum on e-services attracted over 400 participants
(government officials, business executives and representatives from trade and
international organizations) from all over the world. The interest of such a large number
of participants was the most obvious indication of how relevant and necessary discussions
on e-services are.
It is therefore understandable that one of the most widely drawn
conclusions of the Forum was that services were the future of any countries’
integration into the on-going internationalisation of trade. ‘This applies
particularly to transition economies that for long years had favoured the expansion of the
manufacturing over the services sector’ said Mr. Jaroslaw Pietras,
Under-Secretary of State from Poland in his opening address to the Forum. He specifically
mentioned the two important elements of e-services that are the ‘Horizontalization of services that allows restructuring of the former conglomerates and creates new
business opportunities for mini, micro and SMEs in the transition process and the
importance of linking to the international supply chain, using Information and
Communication Technologies (ICT)’.
Furthermore, transition economies, as was pointed out by several
speakers, were extremely fast in adopting new technologies. Thus, although the existence
and development of a high-standard e-services infrastructure and good telecommunications
was recognized by the Forum as prerequisites for successful e-services expansion, the
rapid growth of mobile communications and the willingness to work with the Internet in
transition economies were rather encouraging for the "catching-up" process.
In his address on the ‘Complementarity between investment and
trade in e-services’, Dr. Giarini of the ASEC/Geneva Association stressed that
‘the present dichotomy between the old and new economy does not help to really
understand the fundamentals of the present economic situation and developments. In
practice, older systems and new systems are constantly being integrated to obtain more
efficient economic solutions’. Banks, insurance companies, financial services
companies, auditing firms and freight forwarders have already developed fully independent
electronic services. Governments have begun to provide services to citizens on the
Internet. Furthermore, intra-company services have also become more and more integrated,
allowing a high potential for the optimisation of supply chains in manufacturing,
logistics or international trade. This trend is also evident even within government
administrations. He concluded that ‘a global strategy for the service economy tends
to combine investment with trade, developing local human capital and
resources’.
An efficient service sector is increasingly viewed as a prerequisite
for economic growth and social development, and this is particularly true for
knowledge-based services with high value placed on intellectual capital. The transition to
knowledge-intensive service-oriented economies gives a powerful impetus to upgrading the
educational level and skills of people. This ever-growing importance of the services
sector requires a well-trained, well-prepared or re-trained workforce to succeed. A
positive development to be noted is that such a pool of skilled persons often already
existed also in transition economies and therefore could simply be used in a more coherent
and innovative way. On the other hand, there is a need to teach new skills especially to
SMEs in transition economies, which are keen to access the world of e-services. It is
precisely in this area that the Forum participants saw a special role to be played by the
UNECE. To this end, they called on UNECE to encourage governments and the private sector
to help develop a distance learning programme. Such a programme should help provide
the framework within which it would be possible to stimulate new job opportunities,
prepare people and business for the challenges offered by e-services, and sensitise the
business community and consumers to ultimately help close the digital divide across the
UNECE region.
The overall image of any country is especially important for its
service production and export policy to succeed. The image depends on the overall
macro-regulatory framework and efficiency of the economy, including the level of
education, service orientation, security and trust, the quality of the public facilities
as well as standard and reliable services. International action was felt as crucial in
attaining this objective. International organizations involved in standardization should
closely collaborate to develop open and harmonized standards and procedures. Governments
have an equally important role to play at national level. They have to introduce and
enforce, with the help of international organizations if required, well-balanced,
carefully targeted regulations that provide for both a stable trading environment and open
marketplace for the development of e-services within and across national borders. This
will allow trade in e-services to take place in an environment of good governance and
attract sustainable investment conducive to the creation and expansion of enterprises.
In his closing address, Dr. Ruoss of the ‘Forum Enterprise
Sustainability’ concluded by saying that ‘the e-future starts now, it concerns
people and nature and should be done with responsibility and respect. It is not e-Europe
but e-World. Can this challenge be kept e-sustainable?’
The enthusiastic view of the Forum participants was that national
governments, international organizations, civil society and the business community all
need to work together to create and maintain conditions conducive to rapid growth in
e-services. The UNECE Committee for Trade, Industry and Enterprise Development endorsed
the Forum Recommendations at its June 2001 Session and will launch further measures to
assist the public sector to respond in a positive and sustainable way to meet the
challenges of e-services.
For further details, please contact:
Mr. Jean Kubler, Forum Coordinator
Trade Facilitation Section, Trade Division
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
Palais des Nations
CH - 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Tel: (+41 22) 917 27 74
Fax: (+41 22) 917 00 37
E-mail: [email protected]
Ref: ECE/TRADE/01/11