President Jiang Zemin Highlights "New Economy" in APEC AddressPresident Jiang Zemin said November 16 in Bandar Seri Begawan that in the development of a "New Economy," it is essential to take advantage of the latest developments in science and technology."In my opinion, it is essential to make full use of the latest science and technology developments to open new dimensions for international economic-technological cooperation," Jiang said in an address to the eighth informal meeting of leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. He explained that the "New Economy" refers to the kind of economy initiated and sustained by new technologies and hi-tech industries. The advancement of technology, spearheaded by IT and bio-technology industries, is giving rise to a new industrial revolution, Jiang said. Developing countries are faced with the arduous dual task of transforming their traditional industries and developing new industries, Jiang noted, adding that the emergence and continued expansion of the "digital divide" has widened the wealth gap between North and South and may trigger new imbalances in the world economy. "Against the backdrop of accelerated economic globalization and the dynamic progress of science and technology, we must facilitate cooperation between developed and developing countries on exchanges of human resources, technology and infrastructure, and we must help countries develop independently to narrow the North-South gap. "Today, the development, application and impact of science and technology far transcends national boundaries. For example, major breakthroughs made in the human genome project is a crystallization of cooperation between scientists from a number of countries. Only when applied in a global context can the achievements of science and technology benefit people," Jiang said. He noted that economic globalization should not be confined to trade and investment liberalization, but should also stress the popularization of scientific and technological knowledge. The protection of intellectual property rights should be guided by market rules in such a way that the rules will be conducive to the dissemination of scientific and technical knowledge, so that all countries may benefit, he added. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/ |