Information and Communication Technology in economy
Syria, Economics, 4/23/2001

Under the patronage of President Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian Computer Society (SCS), in collaboration with the Syrian European Business Center (SEBC) held a specialized seminar under the title the role of Information and Communication Technology ICT in Economy. It was held on April 21- 23 at al-Assad Library in Damascus.

The seminar focused on the increasing role of information and communication technologies in the economic field and highlighted practical experiences of investment in ICT and other technologies.

Research papers presented by different Arab and European specialists focused on: ICT in economy; Investing in ICT; E- Commerce; and ICT in the Banking Sectors.

In his debate the " European Union and the Information and Communication technologies ," head of the delegation of the European Commission in Syria Mr. Marc Pierini noted that ICT are very much present in the EU- Syria relationship, through projects, past, present and future, and also through every aspect of EU activities. Mr Pierini outlined the four main areas of EU involvement in Syria: Training and education: ICT form the backbone of the important project that the EU has implemented together with the Syrian Higher Institute for Applied Sciences and Technologies ( HIAST). He added that ICT will also play an important role, a teaching device and as an element of the curricula, in the High Institute for Business Administration that is now put to work.

He added that the second area if administrative modernization, noting that ICT is part and parcel of all EU projects in this field, in particular the Institutional and Sector Modernization Facility, a project based in a very large proportion on ICT, with the aim of helping a single instrument any part of the Syrian economic administration.

Pierini cited business development as the EU third area of involvement in Syria, noting that it is the area where the use of ICT has been most concrete and action- oriented. He added that within the Syrian- European Business Center, a well- known project, four main ICT applications have been used: a) a permanent connection to the European Information Centers, a network of 290 institutions in an outside Europe dedicated to linking individual enterprises and chambers of commerce and industry to their counterparts with the aim of fostering business between them: this is an almost endless source of information and business opportunities; b) the setting up within the Ministry of Industry of an " individual data bank" to allow a better analysis of the sector and to help in attracting direct investment to the sector; c) the publication of an " electronic exporters directory," both in CD Rom from and online, to help promote Syrian products abroad, d) the running of the SEBC web-site, where all its activities are accessible and which provides connections to many other institutions in Europe.

He said that as for banking s the fourth EU involvement, last January, the EU and the Central Bank of Syria completed the installation of an ICT system that will allow this institution to introduce policy reforms within a modernized environment.

Among the remarkable debates in the deliberations of the three day seminar were ways of investing ICT,introduced in the Greek experience of " Technological Parks," sessions devoted to ICT in economies with case studies from France, Greece, Tunisian Lebanon and Syria. The debates also focused on investing ICT with seven presentations from Ireland, France, Greece, Lebanon, and Syria, while other lectures focusing on E- Commerce were read from the Netherlands, France, UAE and Lebanon. Special interest was also given to the use of ICT in the banking sector, This trend was highlighted in two sessions and eight lectures presented by lecturers from Belgium, France, Spain and Lebanon.

However, three major goals are expected behind coordinating efforts between the Syrian Computer Society SCS and SEBC: To promote and extend the understanding of ICT in the emerging economy; to provide concrete examples in the use of ICT by the business community; and to stimulate investments in ICT as a growth engine for the Syrian economy.

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