Call to Reduce Red Tape and Switch to Paperless Trading

The Korean Deputy Minister for Trade and Investment Policy, Gye-hyung Lee, has called on the Asia-Pacific region to increase efforts to implement paperless trading systems.

The move is aimed at reducing red tape and the cumbersome administrative processed faced by businesses when they trade across borders using paper forms.

Addressing the APEC Private-Public Partnership Dialogue for promoting Paperless Trading in Seoul Mr. Lee highlighted the importance his government had placed on expanding paperless trading systems.

"For the Korean economy paperless trading is the 21st century's new paradigm," Mr. Lee told the opening session.

"The government has set this agenda as one of the top priorities of its trade promotion policy.

"Today's APEC Dialogue is a valuable opportunity to inducing effective cooperation between the public and private sectors, and I hope that it will play an important role in early realization of paperless trading in the APEC region."

Mr. Lee also noted that facilitating cross-border paperless trading faces obstacles due to the differences in trading processes between governments and the private sector.

"The standardization of trading documents has to be further discussed," Mr. Lee said.

"Each economy has to make efforts to overcome obstacles and challenges.

"I hope that today's meeting will be a meaningful opportunity for all participants to exchange insightful views and ideas."

The dialogue also provided an opportunity for business people to present their opinions to government representatives on issues such as the mutual recognition of Certification and Qualification standards.

The APEC Private-Public Partnership Dialogue for promoting Paperless Trading on February 22 was the first event in the program of 11th Meeting of the APEC Electronic Commerce Steering Group (ECSG) taking place in Seoul until February 26.

Other issues and events on the ECSG program include efforts to promote data privacy protection including the development of cooperative arrangements between privacy investigation and enforcement agencies, and APEC research on overcoming E-mail SPAM.

The ECSG was established to promote the development and use of electronic commerce in the APEC region by creating legal, regulatory and policy environments that are predictable, transparent and consistent. One of the main functions of the ECSG is to provide a coordinating role for APEC e-commerce activities, based on the principles set out in the 1998 APEC Blueprint for Action on Electronic Commerce.

For further details on the work of the ECSG visit: www.export.gov/apececommerce