Towards the Asian information society through telecommunications trade and investment

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to investigate possibilities in promoting the movement of the Asian economies towards becoming information societies. We focus on promoting intra‐industry trade and investment in the information and telecommunications sector. We take into account the impacts and implications of the economic crisis and its aftermath on ongoing implementation of liberalization policies in the telecommunications industry in various Asian countries. Concrete action plans are proposed to exploit synergistic cooperation within the region as follows: (i) industrial relocation and utilization of actual and potential industrial complementarities; (ii) vertical integration, horizontal mergers, acquisitions, and consolidations of telecommunication companies to remedy over‐investment; (iii) prompt establishment of common technical standards of telecommunications through international organizations and multilateral negotiations; (iv) suitable international division of sub‐industries based on national capacity; (v) establishment of information centers as matchmakers between small‐and‐medium‐sized enterprises with diverse IT needs; (vi) expansion of trade and investment by quid pro quo multilateral trade negotiations.