| James Kon |
MINISTER of Communications Dato Seri Setia Awang Abdul Mutalib bin Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Setia Dato Paduka Haji Mohd Yusof recently shared views for a more focussed approach on cybersecurity, highlighting the importance of close coordination among ASEAN Member States (AMS) during an exchange of views among ASEAN ministers at the 18th ASEAN Telecommunications and IT Ministers Meeting (ASEAN TELMIN) and other related meetings at Ubud, Bali, in the Republic of Indonesia on December 5-6.
The minister also expressed the need to continuously develop expertise and talent, in order to keep pace with the trends and challenges of cybersecurity in this era of digital economy.
The Brunei delegation to the meeting comprised senior officials from the Ministry of Communications (MinCom) and the Authority for Info-communications Technology Industry of Brunei Darussalam (AITI).
Also in attendance was Brigadier General (Rtd) Dato Seri Pahlawan Haji Yussof bin Haji Abdul Rahman, the Ambassador of Brunei Darussalam to Indonesia.
The ASEAN TELMIN is an annual event that gathers ICT ministers from the AMS to discuss and decide on the direction of ICT cooperation within ASEAN and with dialogue partners.
The 18th ASEAN TELMIN proceeded with sessions on an exchange of views among the ministers, which focussed on four topics of emerging importance.
The ministers agreed on five priorities: Cybersecurity, Connectivity and Mobility, Smart City, Digital Economy, and Manpower and Society.
The key outcome of the meeting is the Ubud Declaration on Aiming the Future of Digital Ecosystem for ASEAN Prosperity, which encapsulates agreement on key areas of digital economy, by enhancing the digital ecosystem to improve ASEAN’s competitiveness.
Another outcome was the endorsement of the ASEAN Framework on Digital Data Governance, which aimed at strengthening the data ecosystem, achieving legal and regulatory alignment of data regulations and governance frameworks.
The IT ministers also held meetings with the People’s Republic of China, Japan, Republic of Korea and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU)where they appreciated the progress made in the cooperation with ASEAN’s dialogue partners.
Under the respective Work Plans agreed with the dialogue partners, more collaborative activities will be explored and implemented, particularly in areas of emerging importance such as 5G, Smart City, Internet of Things (IoT), Cybersecurity, ICT for disaster management and Universal Service Obligation (USO).
In addition, the MoU between ASEAN and China on Cooperation in Information and Communications Technology, and between ASEAN and ITU on Joint Cooperation in ICT Development were extended.
Dato Seri Setia Awang Abdul Mutalib also held bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam, to discuss initiatives for strengthening bilateral relations in info-communications technology.
The meeting was preceded by the 19th ASEAN Telecommunications and Information Technology Senior Officials Meeting (19th ASEAN TELSOM) and its related meetings on December 3-4.
Brunei Darussalam’s delegation to the 19th ASEAN TELSOM was headed by Pengiran Haji Mohammad Zain bin Pengiran Haji Abdul Razak, the Chief Executive of AITI.