Geneva, 14 February 2011 - A group of Latin American national policy experts and lawyers are meeting from 15 to 18 February 2011 in La Paz (Bolivia) to discuss ways of harmonizing legislation on e-commerce, at the Regional Workshop on Cyberlegislation being organized jointly by UNCTAD and the secretariat of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA), with support from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Bolivia and Spain.
Some 26 participants from 15 Latin American countries (Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Suriname, El Salvador and Venezuela) will attend the workshop, which builds on UNCTAD´s training activities in the region, in particular, the distance training course on the legal aspects of e-commerce that was given in November 2010, for 210 individuals in 19 countries.
UNCTAD started its work in the area of cyberlegislation in 2007, providing countries in the region with distance training and face-to-face workshops for experts responsible for drafting national legislation on e-commerce. The aim is to improve experts´ knowledge of the international context, and of the different ways they can help to harmonize cyberlegislation and facilitate e-commerce.
The results of the training have shown that exchange of experience and knowledge is conducive to building legislative frameworks to promote growth of the information economy. For that to happen, relevant and up-to-date information is required; to that end, UNCTAD published in 2009 and 2010 two studies on prospects for harmonizing cyberlegislation in Latin America and Central America.(1)
Latin American countries have adapted - or are in the process of amending - their legislation, and their civil, commercial, criminal, tax and administrative regulations to e-commerce. The workshop being held from 15 to 18 February in La Paz (Bolivia) will be an opportunity for representatives of the participating countries to agree on the general thrust of strategies to expand the training of civil servants, and to discuss the role of information and communications technology and its contribution to economic growth in developing countries.
UNCTAD technical assistance
UNCTAD provides technical assistance in Latin America in the area of e-commerce, through its Division on Technology and Logistics. These activities are also carried out in Africa and Asia. With its ICT and Law Reform programme, based on the TrainForTrade methodology, UNCTAD aims to contribute to the growth of the information economy. It also seeks to promote human resource development, as a key element of growth and economic progress, through a process that fosters national and regional adaptation and capacity-building. For more information, contact Ms. Cécile Barayre - Science, Technology and ICT (cecile.barayre@unctad.org) and/or Mr. Gonzalo Ayala - Human Resources Development/TrainForTrade (gonzalo.ayala@unctad.org).
