DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS 
P R E S S  R E L E A S E
www.dfa.gov.ph                                                                                           2330 Roxas Blvd., Pasay City, Philippines                                                                                 Tel. No. 834-4000 

SFA-AGR-548-05                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             08 August  2005

PHILIPPINES WINS TOP AWARD IN APEC E-PRACTICE COMPETITION

08 August 2005 – Undersecretary for International and Economic Relations Edsel T. Custodio reported to Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G. Romulo that the Philippines' Bureau of Internal Revenue Electronic Filing and Payment System (EFPS) won the top award during 2005 APEC Digital Opportunity Center (ADOC) Week Forum and Plenary held in Taipei, Taiwan from August 3 to 5, 2005.

Undersecretary Custodio said the event marked the first formal presentation on the establishment of the ADOC hosted by Chinese Taipei under the 11th APEC Leaders initiative in Bangkok, Thailand in 2003 aimed at bridging the digital divide and up-grading e-capability in the APEC region.

Funded by Chinese Taipei, ADOC is an independent, non-profit organization to support the objectives of:

1. achieving the goal of an APEC digital society in accordance with the Leaders  vision and commitments;
2. acting as a major enabler of the APEC New Economy by harnessing the full potentials of the information and communications technology; and
3. creating a cooperative APEC mechanism to help public and private sectors  bridge the digital divide.
So far, the ADOC Secretariat in Taipei has selected six ADOC partner economies, namely Chile, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines and Vietnam as beneficiary partners in ADOC.   In 14 June 2005, ADOC Taipei and the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) launched the ADOC Manila partner Office and Training Laboratory at the first floor of the NCC Building in Diliman, Quezon City.

Undersecretary Custodio explained that the program in the Philippines will run initially for three years and will focus on training programs and seminars on E-business, web design for SMEs and the conduct of other courses intended to benefit barangay-based cooperatives and organizations.

During the weeklong event, Chinese Taipei and the six partner economies presented exhibits in their respective e-activities and exchanged experiences and expertise on the themes of e-Government, e-business, e-readiness.   A first batch of trainers program was also conducted.

For the best practices award night, the six partner economies submitted a total of 56 entries in the various categories on e-practices.   Out of the 56 entries, the Philippines EFPS won the top award, followed by Vietnams' Tax Administration Information System and third, a private sector DATABUSINESS program of the Santiago Chamber of Commerce, Chile. END
 
 
 

/jay