Final Report

In compliance with the framework of the operational plan of the Arab Region, the Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT), in collaboration with the ITU Arab Regional Office in Cairo, has organized the "E-Commerce Seminar for the Arab Region", in Tunis, from 15 to 17 May 2001, at the kind invitation of H. E. Mr. Ahmed Friaa, Tunisian Minister of Communication Technologies.

The seminar was inaugurated in the presence of H. E. the Minister of Communication Technologies, together with a number of distinguished Ambassadors assigned in Tunis, Messers. Alexander Ntoko, Pierre Gagné and Mario Maniewicz representing BDT/ITU, as well as Messers. Miloud Ameziane and Khalil Aburizik from the Arab Regional Office and Mrs. Ferial Beji, PDG of Agence Tunisienne d’Internet (ATI).

More than 200 participants representing 14 countries expressed their concern towards the topics included for discussion during the seminar.

To this effect they highly appreciated the 22 presentations introduced during the seminar due to their high quality in steering valuable discussions.

In order to coordinate their efforts, the participants decided to form a Working Group, under the name of "Call of Tunisia", to undertake the necessary coordination and follow-up activities. The preliminary list of the group members is as follows:

Mr. Ali Babbou (PDG of GlobalNet, Tunisia), Mrs. Ferial Beji (PDG of ATI, Tunisia), Mr. Sherif Hashem (Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, Egypt), Mrs. Nagwa El-Shenawy (Deputy Director of International Cooperation Sector, IDSC, Egypt), Mr. Abderrazak Mazini (S.E.P.T.I., Morocco), Mrs. Samira Gourroum (Maroc Telecommerce, Morocco) and Mrs. Nadia Benzaour (ISAM, Tunisia).

The possibility of joining the group remains open for any member who would like to contribute.

Until the development of a website is completed, which will be a common platform of discussion and exchange of thoughts, the coordination process will take place through the Arab Regional Office and the Project Management of ECDC-BDT/ITU in Geneva.

The Working Group will also have the task of preparing an E-Commerce document to be presented in the first IT Arab Forum scheduled in the United Arab Emirates in 2002. For this purpose, the following tasks were assigned to the group:

• To identify the E-Commerce status in the Arab Region as well as the successful practical experiences.
• To highlight the different problems expected to face the plan.
• To develop, in collaboration with the Arab Regional Office, a mechanism for the exchange of experience and field visits between the different countries.
• To propose the organization of meetings for the discussion of the following topics:
  1. Authority Certificate
  2. PKI Certification
  3. E-Payment
  4. Legal Aspect
  5. Security
  6. Human Resources Development
  7. ITU Standards

The participants recommended the following:

• To consider the opening address of H. E. the Minister as a working paper in the seminar.
• To consider ITU the only reference for the normalization of related matters.
• That ITU encourages the organization of a meeting aiming to discuss problems facing E-commerce activities (transportation, customs...).
• That the Arab countries contribute to the development of a regional center specialized in E-commerce.
• To encourage the usage of Arabic language.

Acknowledgment:

The participants expressed their deep appreciation to H. E. the Tunisian Minister of Communication Technologies, Mr. Ahmed Friaa, to the Tunisian Agency of Internet (ATI), and particularly to their PDG, Mrs. Ferial BEJI, who exerted every possible effort for the success of this seminar.The participants also extended their thanks and appreciation to BDT Director, Mr. Hamadoun TOURE, to the ECDC Project Manager, and to the Arab Regional Office, for their deep concern about the region, as well as their efforts geared towards implementing the recommendations of this meeting.