The Fourth imbX Ministerial Forum, chaired by MICA Minister Lee Boon Yang, was held on 17 June afternoon. It was attended by ICT ministers, senior officials and industry leaders. The theme for this year’s Forum was “Broadband: Opportunities and Challenges”.

2 The Ministerial Forum discussed two broad areas. The first was focused on the different approaches taken by various countries in rolling out their national broadband networks - lessons that can be learnt from these experiences, how national governments were involved in this process and what role they played. The second area was on promoting the adoption of broadband networks, and how governments can influence society and businesses; enabling more people to embrace the concept of doing things over the Internet.

3 Singapore’s Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, Dr Lee Boon Yang said, “We had a good discussion on various opportunities and challenges offered by broadband. There was a high level of awareness of the importance of broadband. Several ministers shared their interest in broadband development and their desire to tap on broadband for economic opportunities, productivity gains and national competitiveness. The Ministers also discussed the challenges to achieving broadband rollout especially for countries with extensive rural areas. There was consensus that government, regulator and industry players have to collaborate to derive the full benefits of broadband. “

MINISTRY OF INFORMATION, COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS

17 JUNE 2008