Thailand raises natural disaster at TELMIN session

BANGKOK, December 17 (TNA) - Thai Information and Communication Technology Minister Group Captain Anudith Nakornthap said on Saturday that several major issues concerning computer and information technology developments, including those aimed to cope with natural disasters, were raised at the recent 11th ASEAN Telecommunications and IT Ministers’ Meeting or the 11th TELMIN, held in Myanmar’s capital of Naypyidaw. Anudith told reporters that he proposed the implementation of an advance information and communication technology to cope with natural disasters on a sustainable basis at the regional forum, as Thailand had faced a flooding disaster, considered the most severe in several decades, over the past couple of months, total damage initially estimated at over one trillion baht. Anudith said that dialogue partners of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at the meeting had agreed to support ASEAN on research and development of the information and communication technology, through transfers of know-how and human resources development, to enable the 10-member bloc to achieve the goal. According to the Thai minister, the meeting also discussed progress of the ASEAN ICT Master plan 2015, the first year when the ASEAN Economic Community is established, under which a total of 17 projects are to be carried out by member nations, including regional computer network security, ICT adoption by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and ASEAN Broadband Corridor, as well as approved a budget totaling 450,000 US dollars, allocated from the ASEAN ICT Fund for spending from 2012–2013 and the Naypyidaw Statement on ICT: An Engine for Growth in ASEAN. Participants at the meeting included those from ASEAN member countries and the growing bloc's dialogue partners, namely China, Japan, South Korea and India, as well as senior officials of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). (TNA)