May/1/2003 Survey Report on IT Legal Technical Assistance to New ASEAN Member States

1.  Project Objective   At the end of last year, the Japan Federation of Bar Associations (JFBA) undertook a commission from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan (METI) to conduct survey intended to provide IT-related legal technical assistance to the new ASEAN member states: Kingdom of Cambodia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Union of Myanmar and Socialist Republic of Vietnam (hereinafter referred to as CLMV). The e-ASEAN project has been carried out in ASEAN countries since 2000. Under one of the project themes, the "promotion of e-commerce", each country is expected to implement e-commerce related legislation. It is, however, not easy for the CLMV countries which economy is still in the developing stage to promote information technology at the same level as developed ASEAN countries such as Singapore and Malaysia. Thus, the METI commissioned the JFBA to conduct survey on IT related laws in the CLMV countries in order to support those countries in implementing e-commerce related legislation. The reason the METI nominated the JFBA was partly because this was a survey of laws and the JFBA committees dealing with international issues had already produced satisfactory results of international cooperation activities in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. 2.  Project Details   Although this project was originally composed of three pillars: i) surveys in the CLMV countries; ii) preparation of country reports; and iii) a seminar for concerned parties of the CLMV countries to be held based on the survey results, the seminar was regrettably cancelled due to contingencies including the Iraq war. However, the country reports and annexes are rich in content and well organized. I feel they are highly valuable since there are very few reference materials in this field in Japan. 3.  Project Implementation   About twenty project members were recruited from among the JFBA members including practicing attorneys registered as JFBA international legal technical assistance volunteers on the initiative of the JFBA Committee on International Relations. Survey teams were formed for each CLMV country and conducted surveys. The survey periods are shown below. We feel we have conducted productive surveys with the cooperation of the METI and Embassies of Japan in each CLMV countries.
Masatoshi Ikeuchi Manager Project on IT Legal Technical Assistance to New ASEAN Members States
Survey Period and Places Visited   Socialist Republic of Vietnam (7-12, 20-25 January, 2003)    - Ministry of Trade  - Department General of Posts and Telecoms  - Ministry of Justice  - National Office of Industrial Property  - Embassy of Japan  - Supreme People's Court of Vietnam  - Law Office (LEADCO)  - Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)   Kingdom of Cambodia (6-11 January, 2003)    - Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications  - Embassy of Japan  - Japanese Company  - Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports  - Council of Ministers  - Ministry of Justice  - Ministry of Commerce  - JICA   Union of Myanmar (27-31 January, 2003)    - MINAMI Tours Inc.  - Embassy of Japan  - JICA  - Sumitomo Corp. Yangon  - Law Office  - Myanmar Japan Software  - MICT Park  - e-National Task Force  - Attorney General's Office   Lao People's Democratic Republic (3-6 February, 2003)    - JICA  - Science Technology and Environment Agency (Department of Intellectual Property, Standardization & Metrology)  - Embassy of Japan  - United Nations Development Programme  - Accounting Firm (KPMG)  - Ministry of Justice  - Vientiane Municipality Court  - Ministry of Communications Transports Posts and Construction  - Bank of the Lao P.D.R.  - Ministry of Information and Culture  - Ministry of Commerce, Lao Trade Promotion Center