Prepcom 1
Hammamet, Tunisia 25 June 2006

PROVIDED BY DAVID FARES

Thank you Mr. Chairman.

The CCBI is very pleased to be here today to continue to work with all governments and civil society through the WSIS process to build a truly global information society for all.

We would like to thank the Tunisian Government for its warm hospitality in beautiful Hammamet. Our Tunisian business colleagues have also extended a very kind welcome to CCBI and we look forward to building e ver stronger links with them as we work toward the Tunis phase of the Summit.

CCBI would like to congratulate you Mr. Chairman and the entire Bureau - we reiterate our commitment to work with you to build new partnerships. We also would like to thank Minister Samesakou for his leadership and friendship in the first phase of the Summit.

Last but not least, we would like to thank Secretary General Utsumi and the Executive Secretariat for their continued commitment to the WSIS process.

Business has provided to governments its views on Internet Governance and Financing Mechanisms. The ICC Roadmap for Internet Governance and the CCBI Recommendations Regarding Financing Mechanisms for ICTs are available on the tables outside of the conference room We hope that these documents are helpful and stand ready to answer any questions you may have regarding our views. We look forward to full and active participation in the Working Group and Task Force.

I will now provide the views of CCBI regarding the second phase of the Summit:

Procedural objectives

Business representatives strongly urge the following procedural objectives for the second preparatory process of WSIS and particularly at this first preparatory meeting:

• Observers should be able to attend all meetings so as to be able to provide meaningful input to the negotiations.
  
• The rules of procedure should ensure that observers are offered an opportunity to intervene in all meetings.
  
• The rules of procedure should ensure transparency and timely dissemination of information regarding document distribution, meeting scheduling etc.

Substantive objectives

Business representatives from the CCBI member companies and organizations urge the following objectives for the second phase of WSIS:

• Negotiations related to political issues should be focused on unresolved issues, namely financing and Internet governance based on the UN working groups' recommendations. Governments should refrain from renegotiating resolved political issues since they have been settled in the Declaration of Principles from the Geneva phase of the Summit;
  
• Assessing, evaluating and benchmarking the implementation of the Plan of Action adopted in Geneva and sharing best practices and lessons learned should be the focus of the Tunis phase of the Summit. The preparatory process should be organized to accomplish these objectives.
  
• Thematic meetings should focus on the efforts to implement, evaluate and chart progress on the Plan of Action adopted in Geneva on key themes. The rules of procedure should ensure that these thematic meetings are not used to re-o pen previously resolved issues negotiated during the Geneva phase of this Summit.
  

CCBI looks forward to continuing to work with all governments through the WSIS process to bring to fruition a truly global information society for all.

Thank you Mr. Chairman.

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WHAT IS THE COORDINATING COMMITTEE OF BUSINESS INTERLOCUTORS (CCBI)?

The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) was held during the week of 8 December 2003 in Geneva, culminating in the Summit segment on 10-12 December 2003. The second part of this Summit will take place in 2005 in Tunisia.

Principals of the Summit host countries and executive secretariat invited the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) to create the Coordinating Committee of Business Interlocutors (CCBI) as a vehicle through which to mobilize and coordinate the involvement of the worldwide business community in the processes leading to and culminating in the Summit. ICC and the CCBI group led the private-sector effort to provide substantive input into the first phase of the Summit, and mobilized the private sector to participate in the preparatory phases and at the Summit itself. The CCBI, is constituted of the following organizations and their members: Among the organizations actively involved in the work of the CCBI, in addition to ICC, are: Associacion Hispanoamericana de Centros de Investigacion y Empresas de Telecomunicaciones, Brazilian Chamber of Electronic Commerce, the Business Council of the United Nations, Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD; Global Business Dialogue on Electronic Commerce; Global Information Infrastructure Commission; Money Matters Institute; United States Council on International Business; World Economic Forum; World Information Technology and Services Alliance; French Publishers Association; International Publishers Association; and Gobierno Digital.

For further information regarding CCBI, please consult the WSIS website at: www.itu.int/wsis/index.html

the CCBI website at:
www.businessatwsis.net

or ICC's website at:
www.iccwbo.org/home/e_business/wsis.asp

or contact Click here to send a mailClick here to send a mail

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