Impact of E-Commerce and Use of ICT

Journal of Economic Cooperation 24, 4 (2003) 81-128
IMPACT OF E-COMMERCE AND USE OF INFORMATION

AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY ON PROMOTION
AND DEVELOPMENT OF INTRA-OIC TRADE

Murat lkin

This paper analyses the current situation of e-commerce and use of information and
communications technology (ICT) in the OIC countries. Essentially, e-commerce and
the use of ICT have grown rapidly as a result of the rapid expansion of the Internet in
the developed countries in the late 1990s, a process through which their economies
benefited immensely. Lately, the number of countries that recognise the importance of
the Internet is rising since more of them take action every day to spread it on a wider
scale. However, in most developing countries, including OIC members, low
technological base, high Internet usage costs, low GDP per capita, lack of appropriate
financial and legal frameworks and low education level are important impediments to
the growth of the Internet. Finally, the paper proposes some recommendations for OIC
countries to deal with these important issues with a view to promoting intra-OIC trade
after having made the required progress.

1. INTRODUCTION

Electronic commerce (E-commerce) is exchange of goods and services by
means of the Internet or other computer networks. In e-commerce, traders
reach each other through a personal computer (PC) that has an access to
the Internet. E-commerce offers buyers and sellers convenience in many
ways. Buyers can make business transactions 24 hours a day and seven
days a week, which enables them to compare prices and make purchases
without having to leave their homes or offices. For sellers, e-commerce
offers a way to reduce costs and expand their markets. Automated order
tracking and billing systems decrease additional labour costs, and if
services can be downloaded, there are also no distribution costs. Trading
over the Internet gives sellers the opportunity of marketing their products
or services globally without any physical barriers.

The Internet, through interconnected computer networks, allows
companies, individuals and institutions to communicate with one

Economist, Research Assistant at the SESRTCIC.

82 Journal of Economic Cooperation

another effectively and inexpensively. The rapid expansion of the
Internet in the late 1990s led to explosive growth in e-commerce.
Industrial analysts reported that North American business-to-consumer
(B2C) e-commerce transactions grew from $11.5 billion in 1998 to
$44.5 billion in 2000 (Microsoft, 2003, p.6). By the end of the twentieth
century, retail transactions (B2C) made up the largest part of the e-
commerce. Consumers purchased computers, airline tickets, hotel
rooms, automobiles, clothing, electronics and countless other
commodities over the Internet. On the other hand, business-to-business
(B2B) commerce represents the fastest growing segment of e-commerce
in recent years. In this type of e-commerce, businesses order supplies
and coordinate projects electronically (Microsoft, 2003, p.7). The main
e-commerce takes place between enterprises. The estimates for the next
few years, although different in quantification, clearly indicate that B2B
will amount to around 95 percent of global e-commerce (UNCTAD,
2002, p.8).

The worlds largest e-commerce market, USA, experienced an
economic slowdown in 2001. The performance of the other major
developed economies has been poorer than expected and also several
emerging-market economies in East Asia and Latin America recorded
negative growths in the same year. Despite these unfavourable economic
conditions, the number of hosts networked in the Internet, the number of
people using the latter around the world and the value of goods and
services traded on-line kept growing at a rapid pace. This confirms the
view that the changes affected by the Internet in business, government
and many other aspects of society stem from long-term considerations
rather than short-term economic crises (UNCTAD, 2002, p.3).

The widespread availability and convergence of information and
communication technologies (ICT) computers, digital networks,
telecommunication, television, etc. have led to the creation of an
unprecedented capacity for dissemination of knowledge and information.
Although the impact of this information age is felt in education, research,
medicine, government, business and entertainment in many parts of the
world, its benefits have reached only about 5 percent of the worlds
population. The new technological advancements in the use of ICT have
widened the digital divide between and within the societies of a nation
(Arunachalam, 2002, p.2). Consequently, substantial efforts are required
by governments to increase the awareness of using new technologies. To
Impact of Electronic Commerce on Development of Intra OIC-Trade 83

increase the applications of new technologies, the educational level of the
society has to be raised. However, this measure on its own is not enough
if it is not supported by a strong national strategy for developing
awareness in using ICT and also taking additional appropriate measures
based on the specific needs of the society.

This paper attempts to assess the present situation of e-commerce
and information technology in the OIC countries and suggests a set of
policy measures in this important area to create a productive
environment for the development of e-commerce and ICT. The
SESRTCIC conducted the present study based upon the relevant data on
the subject collected from the OIC member countries
1
through a
questionnaire (Annex B) and international sources such as the
International Telecommunications Union (ITU), United Nations and
World Bank (WB).

The second section reviews the level of ICT infrastructure and
accessibility to the Internet in OIC countries by evaluating the relevant
indicators. In addition, it discusses the legal and financial framework
required for e-commerce and the enhancement of ICT in OIC countries.
The third section presents an overview of intra-OIC trade and discusses
the prospects and challenges for ICT development, particularly the e-
commerce in OIC member countries. The fourth section refers to the
OIC Plan of Action and cooperation activities in this field and proposes
some measures required for increasing intra-OIC trade through
enhancing e-commerce. The paper concludes with some remarks on the
subject and recommendations to increase the impact of e-commerce and
use of ICT in the promotion of intra-OIC trade.

2. ICT AND PROSPECTS FOR ENHANCING E-COMMERCE IN
OIC COUNTRIES

2.1. Internet Use, Infrastructure and Access Capacity

The number of Internet users worldwide was about 500 million at the
end of 2001 (Table 1), representing about 26 percent increase as
compared to 2000. The rate indicates an enormous jump over the

1
Azerbaijan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Pakistan,
Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia and Turkey.

previous year, especially when one considers that the year 2001
witnessed a recession. Furthermore, the highest increase was realised in
the developing countries in 2001. Some specialists believe that Internet
user penetration
2
in the developed countries approaches saturation level
and, therefore, demand for new Internet access will be stabilised in the
near future. This suggests that most of the growth is expected to be
realised in the developing countries. In 2001, the developing countries
accounted for almost one third of new Internet users worldwide
(UNCTAD, 2002, p.3).

Table 1: Internet Users by Region, 2000-2001 (In Thousands)
Region 2000 2001 % Change
Africa 4540.2 6781.2 49.4
Asia 118336.9 156897.8 32.6
Europe 112922.9 147269.2 30.41
Americas 156001.2 182942.2 17.3
Oceania 7562.7 8467 12
World 399363.8 502357.6 25.8
OIC Countries* 15257.5 22769.4 49.2
Source: ITU Database 2002.
* Table A7 in Annex A.

Internet users in OIC countries amounted to approximately 22.8
million in 2001, increasing by 49.2 percent over the previous year
(Table 1). Against such a high growth in the number of Internet users,
OIC countries still account for only 4.5 percent of users worldwide. In
2001, the number of Internet users was the highest in Malaysia with 6.3
million, Indonesia with 4 million, Pakistan with 3 million, Turkey with
2.5 million and Saudi Arabia with 1 million (Table A7, Annex A). In
some OIC countries, the figure is very low.

Furthermore, a more indicative statistic in this regard is the Internet user
penetration rate, which is measured as the number of Internet users as a
percentage of the total population. This rate is below 0.5 percent in 24 OIC
countries and below 1 percent in 28 of them (Table A8, Annex A). The
figures are not promising from the point of view of e-commerce and the use
of ICT for development of trade in the OIC countries. However, in some OIC
countries, this rate indicates the existence of a good potential. For example, it
is 33.96 percent in U.A.E., 26.66 percent in Malaysia, 20.03 percent in
Bahrain, 14.68 percent in Kuwait, 10.91 percent in Guyana, and 10.29

2
The number of Internet users as percentage of the total population.

percent in Brunei (Table 2). On the other hand, the same rate is 50.1 percent
in the United States, 45.5 percent in Japan and 40 percent in the United
Kingdom. Low levels of Internet user penetration rate in the OIC countries,
as compared to those of the developed ones, indicate the urgent need for
developing the basic ICT infrastructure and activating Internet access in order
to promote e-commerce in such countries.

Table 2: Internet User Penetration in Descending Order and the Corresponding
Number of Internet Service Providers (ISP), Local Telephone Costs and GDP Per
Capita in the OIC Countries, 2001

Internet User
Penetration (%)
Number of
Operational ISPs
(2000)
Local Telephone
Costs for 3
Minutes ($)
GDP
Per Capita
($)
U.A.E. 33.96 1 0.00 19750
Malaysia 26.66 5 0.02 3700
Bahrain 20.03 1 0.05 12068
Kuwait 14.68 2 0.00 14260
Guyana 10.91 3 0.00 828
Brunei 10.29 2 0.00 12447
Lebanon 7.30 9 0.07 4988
Saudi Arabia 4.67 27 0.01 8343
Oman 4.58 1 0.07 7903
Jordan 4.52 5 0.02 1701
Tunisia 4.24 9 0.02 2061
Maldives 3.70 1 0.02 1905
Turkey 3.65 104 0.11 2233
Source: Table A8 in Annex A.
N/A: Not Available.

Fixed telephone lines and appropriate terminals to access the Internet
constitute the essential part of the ICT physical infrastructure. PCs are the
most common terminals used and, together with the main telephone lines,
play a significant role in providing access to the Internet. The methods to
connect to the Internet are analog systems, Integrated Services Digital
Network (ISDN), Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), Asymmetric Digital
Subscriber Line (ADSL) and cable. Analog systems, such as 56K
modems, and ISDN connectivity require dial-up access. This means that a
user of analog and ISDN modems must dial a telephone number to secure
a connection. On the other hand, DSL, ADSL and cable connections
provide immediate access to the Internet without having to dial any
numbers. DSL, ADSL and Cable are known as broadband connections
and they use the same wiring with cable televisions. The main
characteristic of ADSL is that downloading is faster than uploading and is
thus preferable regarding web contents and its applications.

Table 3: OIC Countries with Highest Number of Internet Users in Descending Order,
1999-2001
1999 2000 2001
Malaysia
Internet Users (Thousands) 2004 4977 6345
Annual Growth (%) 148.35 27.49
Internet Users as a Percentage of Total Population (%) 8.83 21.36 26.66
PCs (Thousands) 1800 2200 3000
Main Telephone Line Subscribers (MTLS) (Thousands) 7140 9983 12186
Annual Growth 39.82 22.07
MTLS as a Percentage of Total Population (%) 31.45 42.85 51.20

Indonesia
Annual Growth (%) 122 100
MTLS (Thousands) 6080.2 6662.6 7949.3

Pakistan
MTLS (Thousands) 2985.5 3124.5 3340.2

Turkey
Annual Growth (%) 13.6 8
MTLS (Thousands) 18054 18395 18904

Iran
Annual Growth (%) 150 60.8
MTLS (Thousands) 8371.2 9486.3 10346.8
Source: Derived from Tables A2, A3, A5 and A7 in Annex A.

Statistics on the number of Main Telephone Line Subscribers,
number of PCs, and Internet Service Providers (ISP) provide a reliable
measure of a countrys Internet access capacity (Minges, 2000, p.3).
Internet bandwidth or Internet connection speed and Internet access
costs are also indicators to measure a countrys potential for the future
progress in using the Internet. Low ICT use, low Internet user
penetration, relatively high Internet access costs, and slow connection
speeds indicate a decrease in the number of Internet users and, hence,
have a negative influence on e-commerce.

Table 4: Maximum Internet Bandwidth in Some OIC Countries

< 56 Kbps 56 Kbps
57-384
Kbps
385 Kbps -
1.5 Mbps
1.6-45
Mbps
> 45 Mbps
Azerbaijan X
Kuwait X
Kyrgyzstan X
Lebanon X
Malaysia X
Maldives X
Mali X
Pakistan X
Qatar X
Saudi Arabia X
Sudan X
Syria X
Tunisia X
Turkey X
Source: Questionnaire replies received from OIC Member States.

Table 4 shows maximum Internet bandwidth in some OIC countries.
Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Turkey have Internet bandwidths above 45
Mbps (Table 4). It is also evident from the level of Internet user
penetration in these countries that high Internet bandwidth contributes
positively to the number of Internet users in that country.

Table 5 shows the methods used to access the Internet in some OIC
countries. Dial-up and leased lines are being used in all of these
countries. The mobile (GSM) and satellite systems are also among the
most commonly used methods by countries in Table 5. The use of other
technologies such as cable, ISDN, DSL, ADSL, etc. are not commonly
used in the mentioned OIC countries.

ISPs that deliver access to the Internet are mostly private companies.
However, in some countries where telephone services are state-owned,

ISPs will be controlled by the states (Microsoft, 2003a, p.1). It is an
advantage to have private ISPs as competition between them in a country
will not only improve the services provided but also have a positive impact
on the cost of services provided. Low cost of telephone calls and services
provided by ISPs will allow a larger proportion of the population to benefit
from these services. The most important factors for doing business on-line
are full accessibility, speed and quality of Internet connection. In this
respect, besides the services provided by ISPs, the networks that are used
for data transfer are to be at high-speed levels. Thus, the physical
infrastructure available in a country is very important and the proliferation
of ISPs is dependent not only on the creation of competitive environment
but also on the policies of the governments to support such activities.

Table 5: Methods Used to Access the Internet in Some OIC Countries
Dial-up
Line
Leased
Line
Cable
TV
Mobile
(GSM)
Satellite ISDN DSL ADSL
Azerbaijan X X
Kuwait X X X X
Kyrgyzstan X X X X
Lebanon X X X X
Malaysia X X X X
Maldives X X X X
Mali X X
Pakistan X X X X X
Qatar X X
Saudi Arabia X X X X X
Sudan X X X
Syria X X
Tunisia X X X X
Turkey X X X X X X X

The rapidly increasing number of Internet users in a country implies
that there is a continuous demand for Internet services and that the Internet
users are, in general, satisfied with the services provided by the ISPs in that
market. It also indicates that Internet access costs are affordable.

In the OIC countries, the very fast Internet connections through
making use of broadband services are not being sufficiently utilised.
This is mostly due to the high investment cost required for upgrading the
network and low levels of GDP per capita in these countries.

It is not a surprise that those OIC countries with high GDP per
capita, such as U.A.E., Malaysia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Brunei have, at

the same time, high rates of Internet user penetration. These countries
also have affordable telephone costs.

On the other side, the OIC countries with low levels of per capita
GDP have considerably lower levels of Internet user penetration, a
limited number of ISPs, and higher communication costs.

Consequently, the lack of financial resources to develop necessary
physical ICT infrastructure appears to be the most important impediment
to improve Internet services, including e-commerce, in the OIC
countries.

Countries with poor ICT infrastructure and higher communication
costs will not be able to provide their business communities with a
viable competitive environment for e-commerce. As a result, those
countries will not be able to witness an increase in their e-commerce
volumes, will not be able to even keep their overall competitiveness
worldwide and may start losing their traditional export markets.

Nevertheless, better prospects can be achieved in the OIC countries
as the Internet further develops and, especially, as ISP companies
provide their customers with high quality services at more competitive
prices.

On the other hand, improving the level of education is another
important aspect of developing ICT and e-commerce in the OIC
countries. In this regard, the survey results show that the general trend in
schools and universities that have access to the Internet is that Internet
access is more limited in primary schools and more accessible in
secondary ones (Table 6). Thus, as a preliminary step, a computer-
assisted teaching and learning programme has to be implemented in all
primary schools. Additionally, some donations can be made for helping
schools buy computers, with the contribution of either the government
or the public sector in the relevant OIC country.

Moreover, all schools and universities should provide Internet access
to their students. On the other hand, tertiary schools and universities
have Internet access in the range between 76 and 100 percent in the OIC
countries (Table 6). Internet access is between 76 and 100 percent in all
schools and universities in Kuwait, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.

Table 6: Percentage of Schools and Universities that have Access to the Internet in
Some OIC Countries
Primary Secondary
<25%
26-
50%
51-
75%
76-
100%
<25%
26-
50%
51-
75%
76-
100%
Azerbaijan X X
Kuwait X X
Kyrgyzstan X X
Lebanon X X
Malaysia X X
Maldives
Mali X X
Pakistan X X
Qatar X X
Saudi Arabia X X
Sudan X X
Syria X
Tunisia X X
Turkey X X
Tertiary/University
<25% 26-50% 51-75% 76-100%
Azerbaijan X
Kuwait X
Kyrgyzstan X
Lebanon X
Malaysia X
Maldives
Mali X
Pakistan X
Qatar X
Saudi Arabia X
Sudan X
Syria X
Tunisia X
Turkey X

2.2. Legal and Financial Framework

Enhancing the prospects of e-commerce in the OIC countries will serve
to increase intra-OIC trade whose volume is still low. However, this
requires an appropriate legal and financial framework that builds
confidence in new technologies and encourages the wider use of the
Internet and e-commerce. The legal and financial framework must
provide the guiding principles, rules and regulations for e-commerce and
enhance the existing ICT infrastructure in order to provide Internet
services on a broader level. The existing divergent rules in the OIC

countries are an obstacle to the enhancement of e-commerce and the
legal framework. Consequently, OIC member countries need to establish
standardised rules and practices to provide an efficiently working legal
and financial framework.

As electronic transactions on the Internet increase, authentication
issues such as the legality and scope of electronic signatures (e-
signatures), secure settlement procedures, liability of network operators,
enforcement power of Intellectual property agencies, and types of
patents allowed in technological and software processes, will be
important issues to address under a legal framework (Bridges Web Site,
2003, p.4). On the other hand, all issues requiring support from financial
services and payment systems need to be addressed under a separate
financial framework. There is also a need for financially strong banking
sectors, capable of handling electronic payments securely and across
national borders for a positive development of e-commerce.

E-commerce transactions require on-line payments which necessitate
establishing settlement of fund transfers in electronic form in OIC
countries. Taxation issues need to be addressed under an appropriate
financial framework. Moreover, if taxes are applied to products and
services traded online between OIC countries, Internet users in OIC
member countries would increase security on all customs-related
requirements for e-commerce by using relevant technologies. The
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) will simplify all customs-related
requirements for e-commerce transactions and the Electronic Service
Delivery (ESD) Scheme will provide a wide range of public services
through the Internet and support government electronic procurement in
many other ways (APEC, 2002, p.3-4). In this respect, following policy
guidelines that will transform OIC governments into electronic
governments (e-government) will be most useful. E-government projects
are an excellent opportunity for establishing new partnerships with the
private sector, which can contribute both financial resources and
experience in e-commerce (UNCTAD, 2002a, p.23).

Without certain key standards, such as Internet protocols,
communications and business between countries will be costly and
difficult to encourage the wider use of the Internet. Thus, providing
financial standards, electronic payments and settlements, general
transparency and solvency, and international and automated fund transfers,

credit verification and encryption will be the most important issues to be
addressed in the financial framework. Moreover, product identification and
software interoperability are also among the key issues for standard
setting. Therefore, these issues need to be taken into consideration by the
OIC governments in addressing their legal and financial frameworks.

Much of the success in the development of e-commerce in industrial
countries has come through the convergence of a set of principles related
to e-commerce. The World Intellectual Property Rights Organisation
(WIPO), United Nations Commission on International Trade Law
(UNCITRAL) and Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD) developed internationally accepted principles for
e-commerce, all of which are all well recognised in North America,
Europe and some other industrial countries.

Furthermore, OIC countries need to take into consideration specific
World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreements governing trade in goods,
trade in services or trade-related intellectual property that apply to
electronic transmissions. Additionally, the legal framework should
establish a dispute settlement mechanism applicable to the OIC
jurisdictions concerning on-line trading and its required activities to
avoid any likely future disputes from e-commerce transactions between
the different parties. Nonetheless, a different regulatory environment in
the OIC countries will discourage Internet users from engaging in
e-commerce. Therefore, adopting internationally accepted principles for
e-commerce is important to overcome this problem and fulfil other
requirements stemming from regulatory issues in the OIC countries.

3. IMPACT OF ICT AND E-COMMERCE ON INTRA-OIC
TRADE

3.1. Intra-OIC Trade: Overview

The growth in world output and trade in 2000 was the highest in more
than a decade, with all regions benefiting from the stronger world
economy. Like many other countries in the developing world, the OIC
countries recorded the highest level of exports ($531.5 billion) in 2000.
Yet, while these countries accounted for more than one fifth of the world
total population in that year, their total exports accounted for only 8.3
per cent of the world total. Moreover, it is observed that the bulk of the

total OIC countries exports are still concentrated in few countries. In
this context, it is also observed, as shown in Table 7, that 7 out of the 10
major exporting countries of the OIC are well-known as oil exporting
countries. In 2000, the total exports of these 10 countries accounted for
75.3 per cent of the total OIC countries exports.

Table 7: Intra-OIC Exports and Major Exporting Countries of the OIC
(2000, Billion US $)
Total
Exports
Intra-
OIC
%
Developed
Countries
%
Developing
Countries
%
Total OIC countries 531.5 52.2 9.8 293.9 55.3 218.2 41.1
Major OIC Exporters
Malaysia 98.2 4.8 4.9 50.2 51.1 47.9 48.8
Saudi Arabia 74.7 10.1 13.5 41 54.9 33.7 45.1
Indonesia 62.1 3.1 5.0 33.8 54.4 28.3 45.6
U.A.E. 41.1 5.7 13.9 17.2 41.8 18.4 44.8
Turkey 27.8 3.5 12.6 18.4 66.2 7.8 28.1
Iran 27.6 2.7 9.8 12.4 44.9 11.8 42.8
Nigeria 21.4 1.8 8.4 15.7 73.4 5.7 26.6
Algeria 20.5 1.4 6.8 17.1 83.4 3.4 16.6
Iraq 14.1 1.1 7.8 11.8 83.7 2.3 16.3
Libya 12.7 1.2 9.4 11.2 88.2 1.5 11.8
Total 400.2 35.4 8.8 228.8 57.2 160.8 40.2
% of total OIC 75.3 6.7 43.0 30.1
Source: Derived from Table A1 in Annex A.

When the figures on the direction of the OIC countries exports are
considered, it is obvious that the bulk of those exports (55.3 per cent) goes
to developed countries. In contrast, the share of intra-OIC exports (i.e.
exports from and to OIC member countries) remained at the very low level
of 9.8 per cent of the total OIC countries exports. Similarly, it is observed,
as shown in Table 8, that the share of Intra-OIC exports of the major OIC
exporting countries, as a group, was also very low (8.8 per cent of their
total exports and 6.7 per cent of total OIC exports). In contrast, the
majority of their exports (43 per cent) goes to developed countries. The
countries with the highest share of intra-OIC exports in their total exports
are found to be the U.A.E. with 13.9 per cent, followed by Saudi Arabia
with 13.5 per cent, and Turkey with 12.6 per cent. However, the total intra-
OIC exports of those countries together accounted for 67.8 percent of the
total intra-OIC exports ($35.4 billion out of $52.5 billion).

On the other hand, a similar situation is observed on the side of the
imports of the OIC countries. In 2000, the total OIC countries imports
amounted to $56.3 billion, corresponding to only 6.4 per cent of the world

total. Similar to exports, the imports of the OIC countries were also
concentrated in few countries (almost the same major exporting countries,
see Table 8). In 2000, the total imports of the 10 major importing OIC
countries accounted for 75.5 per cent of the total OIC countries imports.
When the figures on the direction of the OIC countries imports are
considered, it is also observed that the bulk of those imports (55.1 per
cent) came from developed countries. In contrast, the share of intra-OIC
imports (i.e. imports from and by OIC member countries) remained at the
very low level of 13.4 per cent of the total OIC countries imports.

Table 8: Intra-OIC Imports and Major Importing Countries of the OIC
(2000, Billion US $)

Total
Imports
Intra-
OIC
%
Developed
Countries
%
Developing
countries
%
Total OIC countries 420.6 56.3 13.4 231.9 55.1 179.4 42.7
Major OIC Importers
Malaysia 82.2 4.1 5.0 43.2 52.6 37.5 45.6
Turkey 54.5 6.3 11.6 33.9 62.2 18.9 34.7
U.A.E. 39.6 8.1 20.5 19.1 48.2 20.4 51.5
Saudi Arabia 36.2 4.4 12.2 25.1 69.3 11.0 30.4
Indonesia 33.5 4.8 14.3 15.8 47.2 17.5 52.2
Egypt 21.7 2.2 10.1 13.3 61.3 7.0 32.3
Iran 16.2 1.7 10.5 7.1 43.8 7.1 43.8
Morocco 12.4 1.0 8.1 8.9 71.8 2.1 16.9
Pakistan 11.0 0.7 6.4 3.6 32.7 7.5 68.2
Algeria 10.1 0.8 7.9 7.8 77.2 2.3 22.8
Total 317.4 34.1 10.7 177.8 56.0 131.3 41.4
% of total OIC 75.5 8.1 42.3 31.2
Source: Derived from Table A1 in Annex A.

Similarly, it is observed, as shown in Table 9, that the share of Intra-
OIC imports of the major importing OIC countries, as a group, was also
very low (10.7 per cent of their total imports and 8.1 per cent of total
OIC exports). In contrast, the majority of their imports (56 per cent)
came from developed countries. The countries with the highest share of
intra-OIC imports in their total imports were U.A.E. with 20.5 per cent,
followed by Indonesia with 14.3 per cent, and Turkey with 11.6 per
cent. However, the total intra-OIC imports of those countries together
accounted for 60.6 percent of the total intra-OIC imports ($34.1 billion
out of $56.3 billion).

Taking the above analysis into account and considering the
discussion in section 2.1, it is clear that the major trading countries of
the OIC (those mentioned above) are those who have really built

relatively appropriate levels of ICT and e-commerce infrastructures. In
this context, it is also important to mention, as we shall see later on, that
most of those countries have significantly increased their spending and
investment in the ICT and other related technologies over the last
decade. This implies that the progress in ICT, and consequently, the
promotion of e-commerce activity has a significant positive impact on
OIC trade, including the intra-OIC trade.

3.2. Developing ICT and Promotion of E-Commerce: Prospects and
Challenges

Prospects of promoting and developing intra-OIC trade via e-commerce
depend on creating an environment conductive to the rapid development
of the ICT sector. Those countries that have increased the capacity of
their ICT infrastructures and other technological systems have benefited
more from e-commerce. Therefore, OIC governments will achieve more
progress in e-commerce by increasing the capacity of their ICT
infrastructure and enhancing the related legal framework.

On the other hand, those countries that are mostly witnessing an
increase in e-commerce are either producers of IT or have enough
expertise in the field of IT. In either case, their success has come along
with implementing market-oriented reforms advocated by international
organisations that hold tasks in a variety of areas. By encouraging its
members to enact laws and regulations on trade-related issues, the WTO
aims to transpose a non-competitive market to a competitive one without
imposing restrictions on the latter. Thus, it is essential for the OIC
countries to be prepared for such emerging challenges.

International standard-setting organisations generally have an impact
on the business environment through their role in influencing
governments to enact appropriate regulation on various fields of direct
concern to them and relevant with their objectives. To show conformity
with WTO agreements, one of the requirements of its members is to
enact laws and regulations for uninterrupted growth of ICT in their
markets. Moreover, ITU and WB are key standard-setting organisations
in the area of ICT-related standards. Implementing standards developed
by such organisations will help financial markets to adopt new
technologies which will encourage the wider use of the Internet and e-
commerce in the OIC countries.

As the e-commerce volume increases, there will be more
investments in the ICT sector in OIC countries. Consequently, the ICT
sector in the OIC member countries will grow faster. Prospects of
promoting and developing intra-OIC trade by e-commerce and the use
of ICT will become higher as more products in stocks are displayed on
the web sites and new ones generated on it.

As more people gain education in IT and expertise to use
technologies that support e-commerce development in OIC member
countries, the transformation of those countries into an Information
Society will be quicker. This will increase the prospects of promoting
and developing intra-OIC trade by e-commerce and the use of ICT. In
this respect, suppliers and consumers will share experience in ICT and
related fields and gain an insight on how the Internet can facilitate their
commercial transactions to take place in a better way by participating in
the activities that will help them to focus on these issues.

International organisations such as the WTO, ITU, OECD and WB
are all active participants in providing market-driven standards. WTO,
WB and ITU play an important role in creating and maintaining a
market-driven environment. Moreover, ITU, OECD, and WTO play an
important role in facilitating the effective implementation of the WTO
Agreement on basic telecommunications, which includes market
opening commitments and commitments on regulatory principles of the
participating countries to this agreement (WITSA, 2002, p.16-17). The
WTO agreement will have an impact in the promotion and development
of intra-OIC trade depending on the extent to which markets of OIC
countries have made commitments to fulfilling the WTO agreement and
completing the adoption of regulatory principles.

Through its members, the European Telecommunications Standards
Institute (ETSI) unites administrations, network operators, manufacturers,
service providers, research centres and users. ETSI, which has more than
900 members from 54 countries, produces telecommunications standards
that will be used in the decades ahead. Consequently, to achieve the same
level of progress with European countries in the development of e-
commerce and use of ICT, one of the main challenges for OIC countries
will be to implement the same standards.

On the other hand, worldwide IT spending is being led by the
telecommunications sector, which represented 58.4 percent of IT

spending in 2002 (Gartner Group Inc., 2002, p.1). IT services was in the
second position, with end-user spending forecast totalling $557.5 billion,
followed by hardware spending at $323.3 billion (Table 9).

Table 9: Worldwide End-User Spending on IT Products and Services
(Billion US $)
Segment 2001 2002 2003
Hardware 327.4 323.3 338.8
Annual Growth (%) -13.1 -1.3 4.8
Software 74.2 76.9 81.8
Annual Growth (%) -5.7 3.6 6.5
IT Services 542.3 557.5 597.1
Annual Growth (%) 4.1 2.8 7.1
Telecom 1,282.9 1,344.6 1,445.4
Annual Growth (%) 1.9 4.8 7.5
Total Market 2,226.7 2,302.1 2,463.1
Annual Growth (%) -0.4 3.4 7.0
Source: Gartner Dataquest (September 2002).

IT services end-user spending grew by less than 5 percent in 2001
whereas hardware end-user spending was down about 13 percent during
the same year. Hardware is expected to recover at a fast pace as growth
in PC continues to take place in the following period. In 2001, the PC
market accounted for 53 percent of the total computer hardware market
(Gartner Group Inc., 2002, p.2).

Except in few of them, ICT spending is considerably low or even
non-existent in OIC countries. According to WB database, among the
OIC countries, only Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia and Turkey have
statistics on ICT spending (Table 10). Thus, another emerging challenge
for OIC countries is to increase allocations for IT spending.

The level of ICT spending is compared among Egypt, Indonesia,
Malaysia and Turkey to determine their overall prospects (Table 10). In
Turkey, ICT spending, as percentage of GDP, increased from 1.6
percent in 1995 to 3.6 percent in 2001, i.e. more than double in 6 years
(Table 10). Although there has been a surge in ICT spending as a
percentage of GDP in Malaysia from 1995 to 2001, total ICT spending
in 2001 did not exceed that of Turkeys. Meanwhile, total ICT spending
increased in Egypt from $1.1 billion in 1995 to approximately $2.4
billion in 2001. ICT spending as percentage of GDP increased from 1.9
percent to 2.5 percent during the same period. On the other hand, total
ICT spending in Indonesia fell from around $4.3 billion in 1995 to $3.5

billion in 2001 whereas ICT spending as a percentage of GDP increased
slightly from 2.1 percent to 2.2 percent.

Table 10: ICT Spending in Some OIC and Other Countries, 1995 and 2001
Total ICT
($, million)
ICT as % of GDP ICT per capita ($)
1995 2001 1995 2001 1995 2001
OIC Countries
Egypt 1101 2383 1.9 2.5 18.8 36.8
Indonesia 4337 3540 2.1 2.2 22.3 16.6
Malaysia 4438 6325 5 6.6 220.7 262.1
Turkey 2777 9313 1.6 3.6 44.4 142.7

Some Other Countries
Argentina 9414 11642 3.6 4 270.7 310.3
Chile 2719 5715 4.2 8.1 190.5 371
Czech Republic 3094 4954 5.9 9.5 299.4 483.3
Russian Federation 6188 9908 1.8 3.3 41.8 68.2

Some Developed Countries
United States 557252 812635 7.5 7.9 2118.5 2923.8
Japan 279798 413772 5.3 9.6 2228.2 3256.2
Germany 125825 154645 5.1 7.9 1537.9 1880.4
United Kingdom 85484 137726 7.6 9.7 1460.4 2318.6
Source: Development Data Group, World Bank Web Site.

Moreover, when some of the emerging economies such as
Argentina, Chile, Czech Republic and the Russian Federation are
compared with some of the OIC countries such as Egypt, Indonesia,
Malaysia and Turkey, it is detected that both groups show similar trends
in ICT spending (Table 10). In 2001, with 3.6 percent and 4 percent,
ICT spending as percentage of GDP was almost the same in Turkey and
Argentina. With approximately $9.3 billion and $9.9 billion, the ICT
spending of Turkey and the Russian Federation in 2001 were close to
each other. From 1995 to 2001, the ICT spending increased more than
threefold in Turkey and two thirds in the Russian Federation. However,
ICT spending as percentage of GDP did not vary in Turkey and the
Russian Federation during the same period. Furthermore, with a
difference of 0.8 percent, Egypts ICT spending as percentage of GDP in
2001 was somewhat close to that of the Russian Federations, increasing
from 0.1 percent in 1995 (Table 10).

With only 0.3 percent difference, ICT spending as percentage of
GDP was higher in Indonesia than in the Russian Federation in 1995. On
the other hand, ICT spending in Indonesia was lower than in the Russian

Federation for the same year. Although ICT spending as percentage of
GDP increased by 0.1 percent from 2.1 percent in 1995 to 2.2 percent in
2001, ICT spending fell by approximately $0.8 billion from $4.3 billion
to $3.5 billion for the same years. Consequently, ICT spending per
capita in Indonesia fell from $0.22 billion in 1995 to $0.17 billion in
2001. This amount is about one quarter of the one encountered in the
Russian Federation in 2001 (Table 10).

ICT spending as percentage of GDP accounted for almost the same
value in the Czech Republic and Malaysia in 1995 and much higher in the
Czech Republic than in Malaysia in 2001. However, ICT spending
increased by the same level in both countries in 2001 and higher in
Malaysia than in Chile and the Czech Republic in 1995. However, growth
rates in ICT spending and ICT spending per capita from 1995 to 2001 in
Chile and the Czech republic surpassed that in Malaysia (Table 10).

When we analyse and compare the level of IT spending in those
countries to that of developed countries such as the United States, Japan,
Germany and the United Kingdom, we notice that the progress of these
countries needs to be further enhanced (Table 10). If allocations for IT
spending in those countries are not increased sufficiently at a time when
developed countries constantly achieve progress and enhance their ICT
levels, the gap between emerging and developed countries will widen.
Thus, when we take into account that the general trend of ICT spending
in the OIC countries is considerably low, if OIC countries, including
Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia and Turkey, fail to make progress today,
they will face a greater challenge to strengthen their ICT levels in the
future. This possible outcome also shows that OIC cooperation in the
area of ICT is instrumental for strengthening the ICT level in the OIC
countries, including those with poor prospects.

4. OIC COOPERATION IN TRADE AND TECHNOLOGY

The current 57 OIC member countries are dispersed over a large area on
four continents, extending from Albania (Europe) in the north to
Mozambique (Africa) in the south, and from Guyana (Latin America) in
the west to Indonesia (Asia) in the east. As such, the OIC countries as a
group account for one sixth of the world area and one fifth of its total
population. The OIC member countries also constitute a significant part
(one fourth of the total population) of the world developing countries.

Thus, being at varying levels of development and despite the
similarities in the production and export structures in many of the OIC
countries, there are also certain inherent complementarities amongst
them. As a group, the OIC countries are well endowed with potential
economic resources in different fields and sectors such as agriculture
and arable land, energy and mining, human resources, and a vast
strategic trading region. Yet, as the discussion in the above two sections
shows, the combined inherent potential of the OIC countries, as a group,
does not manifest itself in the form of reasonable levels of trade
(including intra-OIC trade) and technology in the majority of them.

In the case of trade, this is due, among other things, to the lack of
diversification in production in the individual countries and similarities
among groups of OIC countries. Many of them, especially the least
developed group, produce a limited range of primary commodities as
their main exports. This, which is also true for the group of OIC oil
exporting countries, puts a serious limit on expanded trade relations with
other OIC trade partners. In contrast, the problems facing the OIC
countries in the area of technology, particularly the ICT, are diverse as
each country has its own national priorities and level of development.
These problems range, in the case of many OIC countries, from the lack
of appropriate educational infrastructure and technological base and
insufficient investments to the lack of appropriate legal, financial and
administrative frameworks.

However, in spite of these problems, it is believed that there still is a
wide scope for the development of reasonable levels of trade and
technology in the OIC countries. Overall, this requires an adoption of
long-term strategies as well as medium to short-term plans and programs
at both the national and regional levels and creating a supportive OIC
cooperation and coordination environment. In this context, trade and
technology have been identified among the ten priority areas of
cooperation in the Plan of Action to Strengthen Economic and
Commercial Cooperation among the Member Countries of the OIC.

The OIC Plan of Action deals with each of these two areas under
three broad headings, namely Problems and Issues, Objectives,
and Programmes of Action. Under Problems and Issues, the Plan
puts those two issues in the OIC countries in the perspective of rapid
growth of their counterparts in the world. It also tries to identify the

shortcomings and problems which need to be overcome in those two
areas. Under Objectives, the Plan incorporates certain general
objectives on which attention of the member countries needs to be
focused. These objectives are intended to serve as policy guidance for
the member countries in each of these areas. Under Programmes of
Action, the Plan identifies, in a general manner, certain actions which
are meant to serve as an operational complement of the Strategy to
Strengthen Economic Cooperation Among the OIC Member
Countries.

In the light of the Objectives and the Programmes of Action
identified in the OIC Plan of Action under the relevant sections of
Foreign Trade and Technology and Technical Cooperation, some
broad indicative actions for strengthening OIC cooperation in these two
important areas may be underlined as follows:

Trade:

1. Endeavour to diversify the production and exports structures in
individual member countries to enhance trade flows among the OIC
countries.

2. Encouragement and support of trade promotion activities and joint
action within the OIC countries at the bilateral, regional and
multilateral levels through, inter alia, expediting the implementation
of the Trade Preferential System Among the OIC Countries and
making use of IDB programs and mechanisms in the area of trade
financing.

3. Endeavour to promote and encourage the establishment of free trade
areas, customs unions, and/or any other forms of economic and trade
integration schemes among the member countries as basic and
transitory stages towards full economic integration, including the
eventual establishment, in a step-by-step manner, of an Islamic
Common Market.

Technology:

1. Giving high priority to science and technology in formulating the
national educational plans and programs.

2. Strengthening of national institutions operating in the area of
technology with a view to enhancing and building up their capacities
and capabilities to facilitate developing the national science and
technology base with an enhanced role for research and development
(R&D).

3. Creating appropriate legal, financial and administrative frameworks
to strengthen public and private national institutions and
establishments in order to enhance and develop creative environment
and capacity for absorption, adaptation and development of
technology.

4. Ensuring and securing appropriate financial resources for investment
in technological infrastructures to create new capacities and facilities
in this field with a view to reducing the gap between member
countries and other countries in the region.

5. Promoting, expanding and developing technical and technological
cooperation activities and programs among the member countries
and inviting the relative institutions to increase their allocation in
this regard.

In this context, it is worth mentioning that the First Euro-Asian
Conference on Advances in ICT, held last year in Shiraz, Iran, on 29-31
October 2002, demonstrated a good example of how technical and
technology-related cooperation can be promoted between countries. At
the same time, the Conference became a vehicle for the enhancement of
scientific and economic cooperation in the field of ICT. Organising
activities in the ICT field needs to be part of the national strategies
developed in the OIC member countries. This will enhance and
complement the efforts of those member countries that aim to promote
the active participation of OIC countries in the global e-commerce and
enable all participants to acquire skills to use ICT and other related or
new technologies.

Similarly, as the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS),
which will be held in Geneva on 10-12 December 2003 and Tunis in
2005, will focus on all themes related to the Information Society, it will
draw the worlds attention to providing access to basic ICTs in
developing countries, including OIC members. In this respect, as the

Conference will provide an opportunity to focus on the application of
new technologies, including the Internet and e-commerce, further
cooperation will be encouraged in this field and the ICT sector itself will
remain a focal point.

5. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Access to information and telecommunications is believed to change
many aspects of our daily lives since it has a broad impact on the society
as a whole. Recently, the international community has given more
importance to increasing access capacity with a view to making better
use of new and advanced technologies, particularly to increasing e-
commerce.

The insufficient technological base of ICT in some OIC member
countries requires them to take initiatives to strengthen it in order to
benefit from it in promoting intra-OIC trade. To this end, an efficient
ICT infrastructure needs to be developed to provide open access to
international and national network.

Since demand for better services is increasing all over the world,
some adjustments are required to enable people to connect faster and
stay longer on the Internet. If ISPs upgrade their current networks, they
will be able to meet an increasing demand from Internet users. In this
respect, the use of technological advancements will help the available
infrastructure in a country to improve maximum connection speed
provided by ISPs.

Measures to attract more investments in IT and related fields will
provide an environment for encouraging the wider use of the Internet
and e-commerce. In this context, using state-of-the-art technologies will
enhance productivity and efficiency as well as improve the quality of
services for Internet users and develop e-commerce.

Increasing the level of education in IT and related sectors will ensure
a larger percentage of the population in the OIC member countries to
use the Internet and benefit from e-commerce in developing intra-OIC
trade. In this respect, providing new facilities will help promote ICT
training and computer-aided training at all levels of education, starting
from the primary level.

Moreover, safety measures for on-line commercial transactions are
needed to build confidence for the wider use of the Internet and e-
commerce. Therefore, the security of electronic transactions should also
be ensured through appropriate regulations which need to be defined
under an appropriate legal and financial framework.

Finally, enacting laws and regulations for uninterrupted growth of
ICT, in conformity with the WTO agreements, will help OIC countries
make more progress in this sector. Implementing standards related to e-
commerce and use of ICT is a major challenge for those OIC countries
that have not yet been able to promote sufficient confidence in Internet
usage and e-commerce. Thus, by working together to create an
electronic trade network among them, OIC countries will increase the
impact of e-commerce and use of ICT in the promotion and
development of intra-OIC trade. On the other hand, cooperation between
the public and private sectors is essential to achieve this progress. To
this end, creating an electronic trading system that is supported by a
strong backbone network will ensure the interest of OIC countries to
increase the impact of e-commerce and use of ICT in the promotion of
intra-OIC trade by increasing trade volumes to substantial levels
between OIC member countries.

In addition to the points underlined so far on promoting the
background for a stronger ICT and e-commerce infrastructure it is
suggested that along those measures the steps toward easing the way
for increasing the intra-OIC trade are also to be taken. Sticking to the
objective of removing the obstacles in front of intra-OIC trade will
serve to boost the enhanced ICT structure to be built in the OIC area
toward creation of trade between the member countries. Hence, at this
point of the study it should be fruitful to remember a few of the related
suggestions made to this end at the 17
th
COMCEC. These are urging
member states to adopt Harmonised Commodity Description and
Coding System; promoting recognition of quality standards and
conformity certifications by the countries; and ensuring the elimination
of dumping measures and easing non-tariff restrictions among member
countries. Implementing those suggestions, mostly concerned with
standardisation and the elimination of trade barriers, in the OIC area
with the same determination and pace of laying the ICT infrastructure
will guarantee the increase of the currently modest intra-OIC trade
level.

The problems facing the OIC countries in the area of ICT,
particularly in promoting and developing an appropriate level of e-
commerce to enhance intra-OIC trade, are diverse as each country has
its own level of development and national priorities and policies. Those
problems range, in the case of many OIC countries, from the lack of
appropriate educational infrastructure and technological base and
insufficient investments to the lack of appropriate legal, financial and
administrative frameworks.

However, in spite of those problems, it is believed that there still is a
wide scope for the development of a sustainable ICT and e-commerce
sector in the OIC countries. Overall, this requires an adoption of long-
term strategies as well as medium to short-term plans and programs at
both the national and regional levels and creating a supportive OIC
cooperation and coordination environment. In this context, the paper
proposes the following broad recommendations to serve as policy
guidelines on which attention of the member countries needs to be
focused:

Giving high priority to science and technology, particularly the use
of ICT, in formulating the national educational plans and programs.

Strengthening of national institutions operating in the area of ICT with
a view to enhancing and building up their capacities and capabilities
to facilitate developing the national science and technology base with
an enhanced role for research and development (R&D).

Creating appropriate legal, financial and administrative frameworks
to strengthen public and private national institutions and
establishments in order to enhance and develop creative environment
and capacity for absorption, adaptation and development of ICT.

Ensuring and securing appropriate financial resources for investment
in ICT-related infrastructures to create new capacities and facilities
in this field with a view to reducing the gap between the OIC
members and the developed countries.

Endeavour to ensure the adoption and implementation of the relevant
internationally accepted principles and procedures for the use of
ICT, particularly in e-commerce activity, in the member countries.

Endeavour to ensure the adoption of rules and regulations which
facilitate the protection of the users of the ICT and e-commerce
activity and the simplification of the customs procedures to products
traded on-line in the member countries and from other OIC countries.

Endeavour to ensure the adoption of rules and regulations which
protect consumer rights by obliging e-commerce companies to
provide full information to the customers who have a problem or
question to ask as well as to return products within a specified time
period if consumers are not satisfied with it.

Endeavour to establish a dispute settlement mechanism applicable to
e-commerce and related activities.

Endeavour to establish inter-banking payment systems in electronic
form in the member countries.

Promoting, expanding and developing technical and technological
cooperation activities and programs among the member countries
and inviting the relative institutions to increase their allocation in
this regard.

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ANNEX A

TABLE A1: INTRA-OIC TRADE, 2000 (Million US $)
EXPORTS IMPORTS
Intra-
OIC
Developed
Countries
Developing
Countries
Total
Exports
Intra-
OIC
Developed
Countries
Developing
Countries
Total
Imports
Afghanistan 49 53 80 133 195 118 519 636
Albania 4 247 14 261 78 851 214 1065
Algeria 1374 17068 3399 20468 834 7803 2287 10078
Azerbaijan 177 1141 605 1745 307 435 737 1036
Bahrain 816 959 2341 8090 1366 1637 1926 3580
Bangladesh 237 4228 544 5590 971 2348 5071 8993
Benin 44 75 134 210 212 631 835 1470
Brunei 40 1946 1215 3161 299 480 937 1420
Burkina Faso 25 68 97 167 306 255 251 524
Cameroon 109 1712 665 2386 344 1028 530 1592
Chad 8 58 27 85 45 102 80 181
Comoros 0 12 4 16 8 30 29 60
Cte dIvoire 954 1936 1582 3519 808 1235 1429 2666
Djibouti 122 13 131 143 156 220 380 614
Egypt 781 3441 1585 5633 2196 13330 7007 21660
Gabon 51 2869 879 3963 80 1232 165 1403
Gambia 1 29 6 35 39 119 182 300
Guinea 57 538 318 856 107 444 238 683
Guinea-Bissau 0 5 89 94 15 50 32 93
Guyana 5 458 183 650 9 273 237 535
Indonesia 3053 33771 28293 62102 4785 15750 17462 33511
Iran 2671 12374 11800 27551 1676 7135 7130 16176
Iraq 1113 11834 2262 14097 348 1700 1046 2746
Jordan 683 129 1125 1284 1210 1909 2169 3671
Kazakhstan 645 2805 6333 9138 356 1486 3534 5052
Kuwait 2289 9929 7824 17752 738 4143 1542 5685
Kyrgyz Rep. 155 209 293 502 205 147 407 554
Lebanon 322 259 446 714 850 6228 2211 6206
Libya 1185 11190 1486 12688 617 2770 1324 4095
Malaysia 4810 50189 47937 98153 4103 43151 37501 82195
Maldives 1 181 136 318 128 68 415 484
Mali 17 100 85 190 306 390 840 1310
Mauritania 48 368 103 477 77 412 149 618
Morocco 486 6052 1566 8228 967 8856 2146 12412
Mozambique 3 126 164 364 33 294 555 1158
Niger 84 97 88 187 92 121 141 273
Nigeria 1798 15659 5731 21392 671 5167 3644 8831
Oman 1771 2375 8167 10542 2131 2411 2964 5375
Pakistan 1807 5377 3777 9156 5077 3596 7452 11049
Qatar 839 5881 4520 11527 693 2010 1242 3252
Saudi Arabia 10140 40992 33658 74688 4393 25103 10960 36191
Senegal 227 369 408 841 65 875 677 1553
Sierra Leone 0 27 4 31 31 47 252 336
Somalia 116 2 118 120 131 47 252 336
Sudan 287 445 1322 1768 361 594 846 1440
Suriname 12 438 72 510 10 312 156 471
Syria 1427 3163 1677 4981 764 2179 2169 5345
Tajikistan 186 293 491 784 303 117 558 675
Togo 128 57 308 387 190 374 848 1225
Tunisia 647 4799 956 5986 910 6753 1713 8593

Turkey 3529 18432 7787 27768 6317 33858 18925 54501
Turkmenistan 575 576 1891 2505 600 386 1294 1788
U.A.E. 5740 17241 18369 41068 8114 19149 20432 39584
Uganda 17 241 79 320 30 270 622 892
Uzbekistan 451 539 1587 2126 472 718 1393 2111
Yemen 115 500 3463 4076 193 771 1307 2323
Total OIC Countries 52231 293875 218224 531526 56322 231918 179364 420606
% of total OIC 9.8 55.3 41.1 100 13.4 55.1 42.6 100
Source: SESRTCIC 2003, Implications of Establishing an Islamic Common Market: Gradual
Integration and Possible Consequences.

TABLE A2: POPULATION OF THE OIC COUNTRIES, 1999-2001 (Million US $)
1999 2000 2001
Albania 3.85 3.91 3.97
Algeria 29.95 30.88 31.14
Azerbaijan 8.02 8.08 8.14
Bahrain 0.67 0.68 0.70
Bangladesh 128.10 129.69 131.27
Benin 5.94 6.10 6.45
Brunei 0.32 0.33 0.34
Burkina Faso 11.11 11.94 12.22
Cameroon 14.69 15.09 15.20
Chad 7.27 7.65 8.13
Comoros 0.68 0.69 0.73
Cte dIvoire 14.53 14.79 16.35
Djibouti 0.62 0.64 0.64
Egypt 62.43 63.43 64.55
Gabon 1.20 4 4.5
Gambia 1.27 1.30 1.34
Guinea 7.80 7.90 8.02
Guinea Bissau 1.17 1.20 1.23
Guyana 0.85 0.86 0.87
Indonesia 205.50 212.09 214.84
Iran 62.74 63.66 64.54
Jordan 4.90 5.04 5.18
Kazakhstan 16.27 16.22 16.09
Kuwait 2.11 2.19 2.18
Kyrgyz Rep. 4.85 4.89 4.93
Lebanon 4.00 4.05 4.10
Libya 5.47 5.61 5.58
Malaysia 21.70 23.30 23.80
Maldives 0.27 0.27 0.27
Mali 10.03 10.25 10.47
Mauritania 2.48 2.65 2.75
Morocco 27.87 28.35 30.43
Mozambique 16.55 19.68 20.19
Niger 10.40 10.73 11.23
Nigeria 108.95 113.86 116.93
Oman 2.46 2.54 2.62
Pakistan 134.51 141.26 144.97
Palestine 3.02 3.19 3.31
Qatar 0.56 0.58 0.60
Saudi Arabia 20.20 20.80 21.40
Senegal 9.28 9.52 9.66
Sierra Leone 4.77 4.85 4.87
Sudan 28.88 31.10 31.81
Suriname 0.43 0.43 0.44
Syria 15.89 16.32 16.72
Tajikistan 6.10 6.13 6.13
Togo 4.51 4.63 4.66
Tunisia 9.46 9.56 9.67
Turkey 66.29 67.42 68.53
Turkmenistan 4.38 4.46 4.84
Uganda 22.19 22.21 22.53
U.A.E. 2.40 2.61 2.65
Uzbekistan 24.31 24.65 25.26
Yemen 17.49 18.35 19.11
Total 1182.69 1222.61 1249.08
Source: ITU Database 2003 and Questionnaire replies received from OIC Member States.

TABLE A3: NUMBER OF PCs IN THE OIC COUNTRIES, 1999-2001 (In Thousands)
1999 2000 2001
Albania 20 25 30
Algeria 180 200 220
Bahrain 93 95 100
Bangladesh 130 200 250
Benin 9 10 11
Brunei 20 23 25
Burkina Faso 12 15 17
Cameroon 40 50 60
Chad 10 11 12
Comoros 2 3 4
Cte dIvoire 80 90 118
Djibouti 6 7 7
Egypt 750 800 1000
Gabon 11 12 15
Gambia 10 15 17
Guinea 27 29 32
Guyana 21 22 23
Indonesia 1900 2100 2300
Iran 3500 4000 4500
Jordan 90 150 170
Kuwait 220 250 320
Kyrgyz Rep. 14.6 18.1 64.1
Lebanon 225 242 260
Malaysia 1800 2200 3000
Maldives 2.2 3.4 3.4
Mali N/A 13 14.5
Mauritania 20 25 27
Morocco 300 350 400
Mozambique 50 60 70
Niger 4 5 6
Nigeria 700 750 800
Oman 65 80 85
Pakistan N/A N/A N/A
Qatar N/A N/A N/A
Saudi Arabia* 800 1000 1200
Senegal 140 160 180
Sudan 85 100 115
Suriname N/A N/A 20
Syria 240 330 360
Togo 50 70 100
Tunisia 154 197 255
Turkey 2200 2500 2700
Uganda 55 60 70
U.A.E. 300 400 420
Yemen 30 35 37
Total 14365.3 16705.5 19418
N/A: Not Available.
*Estimate.

TABLE A4: TV SETS AND CABLE TV SUBSCRIBERS PER 1000 PEOPLE IN THE OIC
COUNTRIES, 1999-2000
TV Sets Per 1000
People
Cable TV Subscribers
Per 1000 Peoople
2000 1999 2000 1999
Afghanistan 14
Albania 123 113
Algeria 110 107
Azerbaijan 259 254 0.3 0.1
Bangladesh 7 7
Benin 45 11
Burkina Faso 12 11
Cameroon 34 34
Chad 1 1
Cte dIvoire 60 70
Egypt 189 183
Gabon 326 251 8.4 8.3
Gambia 3 3
Guinea 44 44
Indonesia 149 143 0.2
Iran 163 157
Iraq 83
Jordan 84 83 0.2 0.1
Kazakhstan 241 238
Kuwait 486 480
Kyrgyz Rep. 49 47
Lebanon 335 351 5.9 1.4
Libya 137 136
Malaysia 168 174 5.2
Mali 14 12
Mauritania 96 96
Morocco 166 165
Mozambique 5 5
Niger 37 27
Nigeria 68 68
Oman 563 575
Pakistan 131 119 0.1 0.1
Saudi Arabia 264 263 4
Senegal 40 41
Sierra Leone 13 13
Somali 14
Sudan 273 173
Suriname 66
Syria 67
Tajikistan 326 328
Togo 32 22
Tunisia 198 190
Turkey 449 332 13.4 11
Turkmenistan 196 201
Uganda 27 28
U.A.E. 292 252
Uzbekistan 276 276 3
Yemen 283 286
Source: World Development Indicators, 2001 and 2002, and ITUs World Telecommunication
Development Report 2001.

TABLE A5: NUMBER OF MAIN TELEPHONE LINE SUBSCRIBERS IN THE OIC COUNTRIES,
1999-2001 (In Thousands)
1999 2000 2001
Albania 140.4 152.7 197.5
Algeria 1600 1761.3 1880
Azerbaijan 730 801.1 864.8
Bahrain 165.4 171 173.9
Bangladesh 433 471.8 514
Benin 43.7 51.6 59.3
Brunei 79.1 80.5 88.4
Burkina Faso 47.3 53.2 57.6
Cameroon 94.6 95 101.4
Chad 9.7 10 11
Comoros 6.5 7 8.9
Cte dIvoire 219.3 263.7 293.6
Djibouti 8.8 9.7 9.9
Egypt 4686.4 5483.6 6688.4
Gabon 38 39 37.2
Gambia 29.2 33.3 35
Guinea 21.1 24.3 25.5
Guinea Bissau 6.1 11.1 12
Guyana 64 68.4 79.9
Indonesia 6080.2 6662.6 7949.3
Iran 8371.2 9486.3 10346.8
Jordan 565.3 620 660
Kazakhstan 1759.8 1834.2 1939.6
Kuwait 449.3 467 472.4
Kyrgyz Rep. 294.9 294.7 304.5
Lebanon N/A N/A N/A
Libya 550 605 610
Malaysia 7140 9783 12186
Maldives N/A N/A N/A
Mali N/A N/A N/A
Mauritania 16.5 19 N/A
Morocco 1471 1425 1191.3
Mozambique 78.1 85.7 89.5
Niger 18.9 20.1 21.7
Nigeria 410 492 500
Oman 220.4 266.9 235.3
Pakistan 2985.5 3124.5 3340.2
Palestine 211.8 252.8 256.9
Qatar 154.9 160.2 167.5
Saudi Arabia N/A N/A N/A
Senegal 165.9 205.9 237.2
Sierra Leone 18.2 19 22.7
Sudan 251.4 386.8 453
Suriname 70.8 75.3 77.4
Syria 1588 1667 1811
Tajikistan 212.5 218.5 223
Togo 38.2 42.8 48.1
Tunisia N/A 955 1056
Turkey 18054 18395 18904
Uganda 57.2 61.7 63.7
U.A.E. 975.2 1020.1 1052.9
Uzbekistan 1599.4 1655 1663
Yemen 284.3 346.7 423.2
Total 62874.4 70600.5 77832.1
N/A: Not Available.

TABLE A6: TOTAL NUMBER OF TELEPHONE SUBSCRIBERS IN THE OIC COUNTRIES,
1999 2000 2001
Albania 151.4 182.5 547.5
Algeria 1672 1847.3 1980
Azerbaijan 1100 1231.2 1485.5
Bahrain 298.8 376.7 473.4
Bangladesh 582 750.8 1034
Benin 50.9 107.1 184.3
Brunei 145.1 175.5 225.4
Burkina Faso 52.4 78.5 132.6
Cameroon 100.6 243 411.4
Chad 9.7 15.5 33
Comoros 6.5 7 8.9
Cte dIvoire 476.4 713.7 1022.1
Djibouti 9.1 9.9 12.9
Egypt 5167.3 6843.5 9482.2
Gabon 46.9 159 295.3
Gambia 34.5 38.9 90.1
Guinea 46.2 66.4 81.2
Guinea Bissau 6.1 11.1 12
Guyana 66.8 73.4 155.2
Indonesia 8301.2 10331.9 13252.2
Iran 8861.6 10448.9 12983.9
Jordan 683.7 1008.9 1534
Kazakhstan 1809.3 2031.5 2521.6
Kuwait 755.6 943.1 1350.3
Kyrgyz Rep. 373.2 385.1 415.2
Lebanon 1277 1424.5 1541
Libya 580 645 660
Malaysia 7140 9783 12187
Maldives 25.1 32.1 46.1
Mali 344.5 49.6 95.2
Mauritania 16.5 26.1 137.7
Morocco 1840.2 3767 5963.1
Mozambique 90.3 136.8 259.3
Niger 20.6 21.9 23.5
Nigeria 435 522 830
Oman 344.5 389.8 559.8
Pakistan 3264.9 3402.9 4200
Palestine 328.8 537.8 556.9
Qatar 239.3 281 346.2
Saudi Arabia 3542.8 4340.6 5761.6
Senegal 253.8 456.1 628
Sierra Leone 18.2 30.9 49.6
Sudan 264.4 409.8 558
Suriname 88.3 116.4 161.4
Syria 1604.4 1705.2 1910
Tajikistan 213.1 219.7 224.6
Togo 55.2 92.8 168.4
Tunisia 905.6 1074.2 1445.4
Turkey 26175.6 34528.6 38900.9
Uganda 113.6 250.2 386.5
U.A.E. 1807.4 2448.2 2962.2
Uzbekistan 1639.8 1708.2 1725.7
Yemen 312 378.7 575.2
Total 84111.1 107233.4 360838
Source: ITU Database 2003.

TABLE A7: NUMBER OF INTERNET USERS IN THE OIC COUNTRIES,
1999 2000 2001
Albania 2.5 3.5 10
Algeria 20 50 60
Azerbaijan* 50 80 110
Bahrain 30 40 140.2
Bangladesh 50 100 150
Benin 10 15 25
Brunei 25 30 35
Burkina Faso 7 10 21
Cameroon 20 40 45
Chad 1 3 4
Comoros 0.8 1.5 2.5
Cte dIvoire 20 40 70
Djibouti 0.8 1.4 3.3
Egypt 200 450 600
Gabon 3 15 17
Gambia 9 12 18
Guinea 5 8 15
Guinea Bissau 1.5 3 4
Guyana 28 52 95
Indonesia 900 2000 4000
Iran 250 625 1005
Jordan 120 127.3 234
Kazakhstan 70 100 100
Kuwait 220 250 320
Kyrgyz Rep. 9.7 19.6 54.2
Lebanon 150 250 300
Libya 7 10 20
Malaysia 2004 4977 6345
Maldives 3 6 10
Mali 6 8 10
Mauritania 3 5 7
Morocco 50 200 400
Mozambique 10 12 30
Niger 3 4 12
Nigeria 100 200 N/A
Oman 50 90 120
Pakistan 1000 2000 3000
Palestine N/A 35 60
Qatar 9 10.5 13.5
Saudi Arabia** 250 580 1000
Senegal 30 40 100
Sierra Leone 2 5 7
Sudan 5 30 56
Suriname 8.7 11.7 14.5
Syria 4 8 28
Tajikistan 2 3 3.2
Togo 30 40 50
Tunisia 90 260 410
Turkey 900 1500 2500
Turkmenistan 2 6 8
Uganda 25 20 60
U.A.E. 400 735 900
Uzbekistan 7.5 120 150
Yemen 10 15 17
Total 7214.5 15257.5 22769.4
N/A: Not Available.
* Average.
** Estimate.

TABLE A8: INTERNET PENETRATION RATE, NUMBER OF ISPs, LOCAL TELEPHONE
COSTS AND GDP PER CAPITA IN OIC COUNTRIES IN DESCENDING ORDER, 2001
Internet
Penetration (%)
Number of ISPs
(2000)
Local Telephone Costs
for 3 Minutes ($)
GDP Per
Capita ($)
U.A.E. 33.96 1 0.00 19750
Malaysia 26.66 5 0.02 3700
Bahrain 20.03 1 0.05 12068
Kuwait 14.68 2 0.00 14260
Guyana 10.91 3 0.00 828
Brunei 10.29 2 0.00 12447
Lebanon 7.30 9 0.07 4988
Saudi Arabia 4.67 27 0.01 8343
Oman 4.58 1 0.07 7903
Jordan 4.52 5 0.02 1701
Tunisia 4.24 9 0.02 2061
Maldives 3.70 1 0.02 1905
Turkey 3.65 104 0.11 2233
Suriname 3.30 2 0.04 1921
Qatar 2.25 1 0.00 27494
Pakistan 2.07 40 0.01 387
Indonesia 1.86 24 0.02 695
Palestine 1.81 N/A 0.04 N/A
Iran 1.56 8 0.01 5876
Gambia 1.34 N/A 0.30 333
Morocco 1.32 8 0.07 1162
Niger 1.07 1 0.10 170
Togo 1.07 3 0.09 269
Egypt 0.93 50 0.01 1528
Kazakhstan 0.63 N/A N/A 1370
Uzbekistan 0.59 42 0.01 463
Djibouti 0.52 1 0.19 894
Cte d Ivoire 0.43 N/A 0.05 563
Benin 0.39 1 0.15 370
Gabon 0.38 1 0.15 4136
Libya 0.36 1 0.02 6207
Comoros 0.34 1 0.14 303
Guinea Bisseau 0.33 1 0.14 179
Cameroon 0.30 1 0.05 615
Uganda 0.27 2 0.13 224
Mauritania 0.25 5 0.08 360
Albania 0.25 7 0.02 940
Algeria 0.19 2 0.01 1784
Guinea 0.19 1 0.10 381
Sudan 0.18 1 0.23 396
Burkina Faso 0.17 1 0.08 200
Turkmenistan 0.17 N/A 0.03 988
Syria 0.17 2 0.02 1185
Mozambique 0.15 8 0.06 202
Sierra Leone 0.14 1 0.03 346
Bangladesh 0.11 10 0.03 346
Niger 0.11 1 0.10 170
Chad 0.00 1 N/A 194
Mali 0.26 1 0.07 236
Tajikistan 0.00 8 0.01 129
Yemen 0.00 1 0.01 384
Source: Derived from Tables A2, A7, A9 and A10 in Annex A and ITU Database 2003.
N/A: Not Available.

TABLE A9: TOTAL NUMBER OF OPERATIONAL ISPs IN THE OIC COUNTRIES, 1999-2001
1999 2000 2001
Afghanistan N/A 1 N/A
Albania 2 7 N/A
Algeria 1 2 N/A
Azerbaijan 7 9 12
Bahrain 3 1 N/A
Bangladesh 6 10 N/A
Benin N/A 1 N/A
Brunei 1 2 N/A
Burkina Faso 1 1 N/A
Cameroon N/A 1 N/A
Chad 1 1 N/A
Comoros 1 1 N/A
Cte dIvoire N/A N/A 5
Djibouti N/A 1 N/A
Egypt 31 50 N/A
Gabon 1 1 N/A
Gambia 2 N/A 2
Guinea N/A 1 N/A
Guinea Bissau N/A 1 N/A
Guyana 2 3 N/A
Indonesia 24 24 N/A
Iran 1 8 N/A
Iraq 1 1 N/A
Jordan 8 5 N/A
Kuwait 2 2 2
Kazakhstan N/A N/A N/A
Kyrgyz Rep. 10 11 12
Lebanon 15 9 7
Libya N/A 1 N/A
Malaysia 3 5 6
Maldives* 1 1 1
Mali* 5 9 13
Mauritania N/A 5 N/A
Morocco 27 8 N/A
Mozambique 2 8 N/A
Niger 1 1 N/A
Nigeria 5 11 N/A
Oman 1 1 N/A
Pakistan 5 40 79
Palestine N/A N/A N/A
Qatar 1 1 1
Saudi Arabia 31 27 25
Senegal 4 1 N/A
Sierra Leone N/A 1 N/A
Sudan 1 1 N/A
Suriname 1 2 N/A
Syria 1 2 1
Tajikistan N/A N/A N/A
Togo 1 3 N/A
Tunisia 9 9 12
Turkey 92 104 86
Turkmenistan N/A N/A N/A
Uganda 3 2 N/A
U.A.E. 1 1 N/A
Uzbekistan 1 42 N/A
Yemen 1 1 N/A
Source: Questionnaire replies received from OIC Member States and
http://www.outfo.org/almanac/index.html.
N/A: Not Available.
*Number of Available ISPs.

TABLE A10: LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL TELEPHONE
COSTS FOR 3 MINUTES IN THE OIC COUNTRIES, 2000 (US $)
Local International
Albania 0.02 4.59
Algeria 0.01 4.70
Azerbaijan 0.28 6.89
Bahrain 0.05 3.39
Bangladesh 0.03 4.14
Benin 0.09 6.90
Brunei 0.00 5.29
Burkina Faso 0.08 11.00
Cameroon 0.05 3.39
Comoros 0.14 N/A
Cte dIvoire 0.05 7.68
Djibouti 0.19 4.73
Egypt 0.01 3.33
Gabon 0.15 N/A
Gambia 0.30 6.18
Guinea 0.10 9.04
Guinea Bisseau 0.14 N/A
Guyana 0.00 N/A
Indonesia 0.02 4.20
Iran 0.01 7.65
Jordan 0.02 N/A
Kazakhstan N/A 2.68
Kuwait 0.00 5.41
Kyrgyz Rep. N/A 9.84
Lebanon 0.07 4.45
Libya 0.02 N/A
Malaysia 0.02 2.37
Maldives 0.06 11.72
Mali 0.07 12.64
Mauritania 0.08 N/A
Morocco 0.07 4.50
Mozambique 0.06 N/A
Niger 0.10 9.03
Oman 0.07 N/A
Pakistan 0.01 3.60
Palestine 0.04 0.61
Qatar 0.00 4.45
Saudi Arabia 0.01 5.20
Senegal 0.10 2.23
Sierra Leone 0.03 N/A
Sudan 0.23 7.79
Suriname 0.04 2.26
Syria 0.02 20.04
Tajikistan 0.01 8.16
Togo 0.09 7.90
Tunisia 0.02 6.47
Turkey 0.11 3.30
Uganda 0.13 8.60
U.A.E. 0.00 3.51
Uzbekistan 0.01 13.95
Yemen 0.01 4.45
Source: World Development Indicators, 2002.
N/A: Not Available.

ANNEX B

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR COLLECTION OF DATA ON
ELECTRONIC COMMERCE AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
IN OIC MEMBER COUNTRIES

Kindly complete and return by 15 April 2003 at the latest, preferably by
e-mail: oicankara@sesrtcic.org or by fax: (90-312) 4673458
(Please make use of the Definitions and Concepts attached to this
Questionnaire)

1. Total midyear population

Years Total Midyear Population
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002

2. Total number of main telephone lines and telephone subscribers

Total Number of Main Telephone Lines and Telephone Subscribers
(in thousands)
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
Main Telephone Lines
Telephone Subscribers

3. Total number of personal computers (PCs)

Total Number of PCs (If estimate, please indicate)
(in thousands)
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002


4. Total number of Internet Users

Number of Internet Users
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002

5. Total number of Internet service providers (ISPs)

Total Number of ISPs
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
Available
Operational

6. Which of the following are used to access Internet in your country?
(Please indicate one or more)

Dial-up telephone line
Leased lines
Cable TV
Mobile (GSM)
Satellite
Other (Please Specify): .

7. Total number of cable TV and cable TV Internet subscribers

Total Number of Cable TV and Cable TV Internet Subscribers
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
Cable TV Subscribers
Cable TV Internet Subscribers

8. Please indicate the highest Internet connection speed supported by
your infrastructure available to the users:

< 56 Kbps
56 Kbps
57-384 kbps
385kpbs-1.5 Mbps
1.6-45 Mbps
>45 Mbps

9. Which connection speed is predominantly used to access the Internet
via cable network?

64 Kbps
128 Kbps
256 Kbps
>256 Kbps

10. Which connection speed is predominantly used to access the Internet
via leased line?

64 Kbps
128 Kbps
256 Kbps
512 Kbps
1 Mbps
>1 Mbps

11. Pricing method predominantly charged by ISPs to connect to the
Internet on a dial-up basis

Minutes of Use Please indicate the average cost: .

Flat-rate Please indicate the average cost: .

Other Please specify: .

12. Is there any legislation relating to e-commerce in your country?

Yes
No

13. Does that legislation allow electronic settlement of e-commerce
transactions between countries?

Yes
No


14. Has your country acceded to the WTO Information Technology
Agreement (ITA)?

Not a WTO member
Member of WTO but not an ITA signatory
Implementing ITA with delays
Fully implementing ITA

15. To which extent is your countrys position on the extension of the
WTO Standstill on e-commerce tariffs?

Not a WTO member
The government has not yet taken a position regarding the
extension of the WTO Standstill on e-commerce tariffs
The government opposes the extension of the WTO Standstill
on e-commerce tariffs
The government supports the short-term extension of the
WTO Standstill on e-commerce tariffs
The government supports making permanent of the WTO
Standstill on e-commerce tariffs

16. Is there any computer and/or IT-related education as part of the
curriculum in the following?

Primary education Yes No
Secondary education Yes No

17. Is your country taking initiatives to integrate the Internet and e-
commerce into its education and training policy?

No
Yes, Please specify: .


18. Percentage of schools and Universities that have access to the
Internet

Primary Secondary Tertiary/University

<25% <25% <25%
26-50% 26-50% 26-50%
51-75% 51-75% 51-75%
76-100% 76-100% 76-100%

19. Is your country taking initiatives to increase access of schools and
Universities to the Internet?

No
Yes, Please specify: .

ANNEX C

ACRONYMS AND DEFINITIONS

Backbone The top level of a hierarchical network.
The main pipes along which data is
transferred.

Bandwidth The amount of information or data that
can be sent over a network connection in a
given period of time. Bandwidth is usually
stated in bits per second (bps), Kilobits per
second (KBps), or megabits per second
(Mps).

Broadband A frequency band divisible into several
narrower bands so that different kinds of
transmissions such as voice, video, and
data transmission can occur at the same
time.

Cable TV Subscribers Households that subscribe to a
multichannel television service delivered
by a fixed line connection.

Dedicated Line A telecommunications line that is reserved
for a singular purpose, for example
providing a data connection between two
computers.

Digital A device or method that uses discrete
variations in voltage, frequency, amplitute,
location, etc. to encode, process, or carry
binary (zero or one) signals for sound,
video, computer data or other information.
Digital communications technology
generally permits higher speeds of
transmission with a lower error rate than
can be achieved with analog technology.
When analog signals are received and

amplified at each repeater station, any
noise is also amplified. A digital signal,
however, is detected and regenerated (not
amplified). Unlike amplification, any
noise (less than a valid signal) is
eliminated by digital regeneration.

Dial-up A temporary connection between
computers established over a telephone
line or to establish a temporary connection
to another computer.

Domain (top-level) A top-level domain name is either an ISO
country code or one of the generic
domains (com/org/net/etc). It should be
noted that there is not necessarily any
correlation between a country code and
where a host is actually located.

Domain Name The domain name identifies a web site.

EDI (Electronic Data
Interchange) A technology used to allow access from
different locations for transmitting orders,
invoices and payments electronically, with
a high level of security.

E-signature
(Electronic Signature) Signature in digital form.

Host A computer providing Internet access or
serving files.

Internet It is a worldwide network of networks that
all use the IP/TCP communications
protocol and share a common address
space. First incarnated as the ARPANET
in 1969, the Internet has metamorphosed
from a military internetwork to an
academic research internetwork to the

current commercial internetwork. It
commonly supports services such as e-
mail, the World Wide Web, file transfer,
and Internet Relay Chat. The Internet is
experiencing tremendous growth in the
number of users, hosts, and domain
names.

Internet Users People with access to worldwide network.

Interoperability The ability of different telecoms networks
and/or devices to work together to provide
a seamless service for users. More noted
for its absence a simple example of non-
operability is if an ISP does not support
connection from the type of modem being
used, or a callers number on one network
is not presented in a way that can be
recognised by the called line on another
network.

IP Internet Protocol.

IP Address The specific numerical location of a
server.

ISP (Internet
Service Provider) A business that delivers access to the
Internet, usually for a monthly fee or a
business that provides Internet services,
such as web site hosting, or web site
development.

ITA (WTO Information
Technology Agreement) WTO Ministerial Declaration on Trade in
Information Products held in Singapore on
13 December 1996. It provides for the
elimination of customs duties and other
duties and charges on information
technology products.

Leased line A two-way link for the exclusive use of a
subscriber regardless of the way it is used
by the subscriber (e.g. switched or non-
switched subscriber, or voice or data).
They can be either national or
international in scope.

Main Telephone Line A telephone line connecting a subscribers
terminal equipment to the public switched
network and which has a dedicated port in
the telephone exchange equipment.

Modem A modulator/demodulator. A device that
converts analogue signals to digital and
vice versa. Can be used to connect
computers via the phone lines. It can be
used to connect them through cable
networks, etc.

Network A configuration of data processing devices
and software connected for information
interchange.

On-line Being connected to another computer or
network.

Public Switched Network Networks in which analog or digital
technology is used to provide voice grade
services to users that access the network
via an analog interface.

Server A computer that makes its files available
to a client via a network.

Systematic Bandwidth
Services Services where the available bandwidth
for upload and download are equal.

PC (Personal Computers) Self-contained computers designed to be
used by a single individual.

TCP Transmission Control Protocol and the
basis for the Internet traffic. It works with
IP to ensure that packets of information
travel safely on the Internet.

TCP/IP The protocols on which the Internet was
founded.

WTO (World Trade
Organisation) International organisation dealing with the
global rules of trade between nations. Its
main function is to ensure that trade flows
as smoothly, predictably and freely as
possible.

WTO Standstill
Agreement for Tariff During the Geneva Ministerial Declaration
on Global Electronic Commerce held in
May 1998, the Ministers declared that
members would continue their current
practice of not imposing customs duties on
electronic transmissions.

___________

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Journal of Economic Cooperation 24, 4 (2003) 81-128

IMPACT OF E-COMMERCE AND USE OF INFORMATION

Economist, Research Assistant at the SESRTCIC.

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