Pacific firms told to invest in ICT infrastructures

PACIFIC telecommunication companies have been told to invest in new information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructures to experience the economic wave of information communication in region.
Carrier Business Group Asia Pacific president Abel Deng told a Pacific Island Telecommunications Association forum in Port Moresby of the value of ICT infrastructure and how networks could support the sustainable development of various digital services to contribute to economic growth in the region.
Deng said about 164 countries around the world had released national strategies on the digital economy as it had become the engine for gross domestic product (GDP) growth.
“ICT infrastructure serves as the foundation for rapid digital economy development,” he said.
“Every 10 per cent increase in ICT infrastructure investment leads to one per cent increase in the GDP.
“The digital economy has developed in several waves in the Asia Pacific.
“The first wave was led by China, Japan and South Korea, with digital economy contributing to more than 40 per cent of their GDP.
“The second wave was experienced in Thailand, Philippines and Malaysia, whose digital economies are in a period of expansion, building on mature digital ecosystem and experience from first wave countries.”
He said the third wave would come to the Pacific Island countries, but only to a country which already has a national digital economy development strategy in place.
Deng added that PNG has Vision 2050 blueprint and Digital Government Project 2023-27 while Fiji recently had released the DigitalFiji to make key government services available online and through mobile applications.