Outline of the Keynote Personal 1

• Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information, UNESCO

For humankind, cultural diversity, being a source of exchange, innovation and creativity, is indispensable. Cultural diversity is indeed the common heritage of humanity; it is also a pre-requisite for sustainable development. We must recognize anew the importance of cultural diversity and strive to protect it for the benefit of present and future generations. Humanity's common values, such as human rights, democracy and peace, can be guaranteed through dialogues and cooperation founded on well-nurtured tolerance toward cultural diversity.

We can say that the September 11 terrorist attacks, an unprecedented catastrophe resulting from the clash of cultures and civilizations, has driven home to the world that dialogue among civilizations represent a major issue that should once again be placed center stage.

Today the world is closer than ever, thanks to telecommunication and information technologies. So much so that mass media and IT should be put in the service of promoting culture and education, and future efforts should be made to ensure that access to knowledge is provided to the most disadvantaged sectors of society.

IT can play a formidable role in furthering networking, preservation and promotion of culture, and realizing peace and sustainable development in the Asia Pacific region.

In this sense, we propose (1) that an environment be created in which equitable access to information and knowledge is guaranteed to all and that conditions for development be put in place and (2) that communication capacities be strengthened in developing countries for the production and distribution of local content and promoting freedom of expression.