§ Mr. AllenTo ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) what are Her Majesty's Government's key priorities for the British Government at the forthcoming G7 meeting on the information society;
(2) if he will list those individuals from Her Majesty's Government who will attend the G7 information society meeting recording their post and department in each case;
(3) if he will list the ministerial representatives from G7 countries attending the meeting on the information society.
§ Mr. Ian TaylorAs the Minister responsible for co-ordinating policy on the information society, I shall be representing the Government at the G7 ministerial conference on the information society in Brussels on 24 to 26 February. I understand that the following Ministers from other G7 countries currently intend to participate:
Country Post Canada Mr. Manley Minister of Industry Mr. Dupuy Minister of Canadian Heritage France Mr. Rossi Minister of Industry, Posts, Telecommunications and External Trade Germany Mr. Rexrodt Federal Economics Minister Mr. Boetsch Federal Minister for Posts and Telecommunications Italy Mr. Clo Minister for Industry Mr. Gambino Minister for Posts and Telecommunications Japan Mr. Hashimoto Minister for International Trade and Industry Mr. Oide Minister for Posts and Telecommunications United States Mr. Gore Vice President Mr. Brown Secretary of Commerce As indicated in my reply today to my hon. Friend the Member for Gravesham, (Mr. Arnold) the conference will provide a timely opportunity for Ministers responsible for the information society to exchange views on latest developments in the sector. I shall be emphasising that Governments must do everything possible to remove obstacles to the creation of the information society, in particular by liberalising telecommunications infrastructure to bring prices down to a level which will make the development of a wide range of innovative services commercially attractive. I shall also urge United Kingdom industry to demonstrate how its multi-media 30W equipment and products can contribute to educational and community services.
I shall arrange for relevant papers from the conference to be placed in the Library of the House.
§ Mr. Jacques ArnoldTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what issues will be discussed at the G7 conference on information society in Brussels to he held on 24 to 26 February; what are the United Kingdom Government's objectives in attending the conference; who will be representing the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Ian TaylorThe Naples G7 Summit in July 1994 invited the European Commission to host a G7 ministerial conference on the information society. This will take place in Brussels on 24 to 26 February, and I shall he representing the Government. The conference will begin with a round table of 45 business leaders from the G7 countries. The UK participants in the round table will be Sir lain Valiance of BT, Peter Bonfield of ICL, Lord Blakenham of Pearson, and Bob Phillis of the BBC. Ministers will then hold discussions on three broad themes: the regulatory framework and competition policy, development of information infrastructure; and social, society and cultural aspects of the information society. I shall be a lead speaker on the first of these subjects. The conference will also launch a number of pilot projects to demonstrate the scope for international collaboration in different areas of the information society.
The conference will provide a timely opportunity for Ministers responsible for the information society to exchange views on latest developments in the sector. I shall be emphasising that Governments must do everything possible to remove obstacles to the creation of the information society, in particular by liberalising telecommunications infrastructure to bring prices down to a level which will make the development of a wide range of innovative services commercially attractive. I shall also urge UK industry to demonstrate how its multimedia equipment and products can realistically contribute to educational and community services.
I shall arrange for relevant papers from the G7 conference to be placed in the Library of the House and on the Internet.