The events were organised under the umbrella of the Stability Pact, with the assistance of the Ministry for Communication and Transport of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and with the close co-operation of the European Commission Delegation in Sarajevo.

Participants include Ministers of Transport and Communication or of Information Society from the Parties in the Stability Pact’s electronic South East Europe (eSEE) initiative – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Romania and UNMIK/Kosovo. In addition senior officials of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, UNDP and the EC as well as the Secretary General of the Regional Co-operation Council (RCC), the future successor organisation to the Stability Pact are also participating.

In their individual presentations, Ministers from all the Parties highlighted the clear progress being made on the national level with regard to the development of the information society and also stressed the benefits of regional co-operation on this issue.

The high point of the Ministerial Conference was the signing of the eSEE Agenda Plus document, which lays out the region’s common goals for the future with respect to the Information Society.

This Ministerial Conference drew on the collaborative efforts made under the framework of eSEE and its partner Taskforce for Broadband South East Europe (bSEE). The Conference built upon the common wish of the countries of the region to jointly employ information and communication technologies as tools for economic growth, job creation, EU integration, and to underpin long-term stability in the region.

The 3rd Information Society Conference on October 30 focused on eGovernance development – the mechanism of utilizing information technologies for advancing functionality and responsibility of the government structures in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Addressing the Ministerial Conference the Special Co-ordinator of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe Erhard Busek stressed the need to turn the digital divide into a digital opportunity. With this aim he appealed for an adequate, co-ordinated and sustainable investment in ICT infrastructure in the region. “Well-structured and mutually beneficial partnerships between governments and the private sector will hasten this progress”, he stated.

The appointed Secretary General of the RCC, Hido Bisèeviæ, commended the events in Sarajevo. He noted that “It is precisely the knowledge-based economy, so profoundly linked to the information society and e-projects, that will serve as the best platform for the general advancement of South Eastern Europe in all segments of our economies and in all areas of our societal development”.

Further information:
Georgi Gotev at the SP Secretariat in Brussels, press@stabilitypact.org
Eldar Sarajlic in Sarajevo, esarajlic@undp.ba

Source:
http://www.stabilitypact.org/pages/press/detail.asp?y=2007&p=611