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Pak Lah: ICT key to growth. |
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Wednesday, 12 December 2007 |
KUALA LUMPUR, 12 Dec (The Star) -- Developing countries should look at research and development and innovation as ways to enhance their economies and spread development across society, said Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
The Prime Minister said information and communications technology (ICT) was a “key enabler and strategic driver” for economic growth and a higher quality of life.
“I for one am deeply concerned that although we live in a time of advanced and sophisticated technologies – that can provide solutions to many of our problems – there are still too many poor nations unable to take advantage of these tools to advance themselves,” said Abdullah.
His speech was read out by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak at the opening of the 3rd Global Knowledge Conference.
Abdullah pointed out that beyond the issue of infrastructure costs, other barriers such as lack of relevant content, poor technological support and the dominance of the English language in the Internet continue to hinder developing countries from taking part in a knowledge-based economy.
He said the lack of local content for developing countries was one of the key factors leading to the widening global digital divide.
“If this problem is not addressed immediately, developing countries may find themselves in a more critical situation, falling even more behind in the development curve.”
As an example, he pointed out that statistics indicated that the gap between the average usage of the Internet in developed countries and developing countries had actually widened in the past 10 years.
He also said that developing countries faced challenges in the form of wider access to quality education, healthcare and housing and providing effective government services.
Poverty, he said, remained the single most fundamental challenge that needed to be addressed.
“I believe that once poverty is effectively addressed, other development objectives become easier to achieve,” he said. |
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 12 December 2007 )
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