The inaugural meeting of the private sector ICT Forum for South-Eastern Europe was successfully organized on 26 September 2006 in Budva, Montenegro and attracted representatives from the business sector of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). The establishment of a private sector ICT Forum in SE Europe is one more initiative taken by INA on the lines of its strategic efforts to mobilize public and private capital for broadband development, especially in isolated and rural regions of SE Europe.

The establishment of a private sector ICT Forum for South-Eastern Europe with the support of the Stability Pact was approved by the Business Advisory Council for Southeastern Europe (BAC SE Europe) after a proposal made by INA’s President, Mr. Vassili N. Takas, and Mr. Goran Radman, Chairman of Microsoft Southeast Europe, at the Tirana BAC meeting last June. The private sector forum will act as a catalyst for the promotion of Public Private Partnerships for broadband infrastructure and services. The conclusions of the inaugural meeting of the private sector ICT Forum were presented on the next day at the joint meeting of the eSEEurope Working Group and the bSEE Task Force, where they were received with positive comments by the representatives of the participating Balkan countries.

The BAC-led ICT Forum for SE Europe will provide a permanent consultation platform for the business community and the governments of the region aiming to the elaboration of policy proposals that will enable a more favorable environment for ICT entrepreneurship in the region and contribute to the removal of all obstacles for investment in ICT. Executives from local and international ICT companies active in the SEE region can openly participate in this BAC-led ICT Forum for SE Europe, which functions under the auspices of the Business Advisory Council for Southeast Europe and is chaired and coordinated by Mr. Takas, and Mr. Radman.

The establishment of such a forum is in accordance with the directions of the Lisbon strategy and will facilitate the convergence of the national policies for the promotion of innovation and competitiveness. In addition, it aspires to promote a stable and effective collaboration of Public and Private Sectors and support the emergence of an entrepreneurial culture, that is necessary for the effective use of ICT as one of the most critical aspects for the convergence of Southeastern Europe with the European Union norms and standards.

The BAC-led ICT Forum for SE Europe will implement actions and activities that will be complementary to the efforts of the SEE countries to participate in the new economy of the digital era on equal terms. The following actions were set as immediate priorities:

The promotion of Public-Private sector dialogues in all the countries of the region and the elaboration of a common position on the main private sector concerns and priorities for ICT development in the SEE region, which will be presented in international fora

GSM 1800: 1710-1785 MHz/1805-1880 MHz

The identification of best practices for ICT development from the SE European region and their promotion as point of reference

The presentation of the Private sector views and suggestions on successful Public-Private Partnership models for ICT projects and their presentation at the next ministerial conference scheduled to take place in Bosnia

The establishment of an eGovernment Centre for SE Europe based to the model of the eGovernment Academy in Estonia with the support of INA Academy, Microsoft, SRC and other regional stakeholders

The periodical publication of ICT progress reports per country

The next meeting of the BAC-led ICT Forum for SE Europe is scheduled for April 2007 in Belgrade, Serbia.