Business Summary by ICC

The Coordinating Committee of Business Interlocutors (CCBI), chaired by International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) actively mobilized the business input at PrepCom-1. ICC Secretary General, Ms. Maria Livanos Cattaui, was invited to address the Plenary on behalf of the private sector and briefed the government delegates and other participants on the role of CCBI in facilitating the private sector substantive input and mobilizing the participants of business for the preparatory process and the Summit. In her statement, she stressed the need for all partners, specifically business, to be actively involved throughout the process to address critical issues such as infrastructure development and the need to improve the regulatory and policy frameworks in the developing world.

CCBI brought private-sector representatives together to discuss the concerns and interests of business and coordinate their efforts. Approximately 30 private-sector representatives attended this business briefing. They agreed to reach out to gather other business representatives, ideas and submissions to push the boundaries of the private sector's role during the WSIS process and at the Summit itself. The group of private-sector representatives produced a General Statement on behalf of CCBI which is available on the WSIS website along with other CCBI contributions (as far as delivered in electronic form to the WSIS Executive Secretariat).

General Statements

The general statement on behalf of CBI/ICC was delivered by Ms. Ayesha Hassan, Senior Policy Manager, ICC. The statement drafted and agreed upon by the CCBI group was delivered by Mr. Paulo Protasio, Chairman of Observatório da Sociedade da informação of the Brazilian Confederation of Chamber of Commerce. Further CCBI statements were given by Ms. Julianne Lee, Senior Project Manager, World Economic Forum, by Mr. Riad Bahsoun, Telecommunication Information Technology (TIT-Liban), and by Mr. Bob Rogers, Executive Director, Global Information Infrastructure Commission (GIIC).

CCBI received positive feedback from government, business, and civil society representatives regarding the pragmatic approach and views expressed by this group

Content and Themes

Ms. Ayesha Hassan, delivered the CCBI/ICC statement, emphasizing the importance of an enabling environment to nurture and foster entrepreneurship and detailing the key infrastructure, and regulatory framework concerns. Mr. Angel Pascual-Ramsay of Accenture delivered a statement conveying the in-depth experiences, and lessons learned by private sector partners in the G8 Dot Force and UN ICT Task Force. Mr. Bob Rogers of GIIC spoke about the critical role of infrastructure to build a solid foundation for the integration of ICTs in the global economy. Mr. Riad Bahsoun of TIT underscored the importance of a true partnership between government and private sector actors throughout the WSIS process. A summary of these statements is available on the WSIS website.

Informal meeting on WSIS Regional Preparatory Conferences

The private sector was invited to the informal preparatory session for the WSIS Regional Meeting scheduled in Bucharest from the 7 to 9 November 2002. Ms. Cattaui delivered a speech on behalf of the business sector. She focused on the fact that while financing and the technological knowledge are available to entrepreneurs in developing countries, the greatest impediments for these are government bureaucracy and the lack of appropriate regulatory frameworks to support entrepreneurial efforts. The importance of creating an enabling environment that would remove barriers was stressed. She stated that the relationships between government, citizens and businesses are critical to facilitate the evolution of a flourishing global information society. Ms. Cattaui noted that competition law, open markets and intellectual property rights are also important components to creating an information society.

Conclusion

The consensus of business representatives was that the first PrepCom was successful in many respects and they appreciated the opportunities afforded to the private sector to participate, though it was stressed that there needed to be a deeper integration of business participants in the preparatory process and at the Summit itself. Concrete actions for business representatives to take were discussed, and agreed upon. The business representatives agreed on a work schedule to ensure substantive input and participation by the private sector at regional meetings, the next PrepComs and in preparation for the Summit itself.

For more information please contact
Ms. Ayesha Hassan, Senior Policy Manager, ICC
Email: ayesha.hassan@iccwbo.org
website: www.iccwbo.org