Although information and communications technology (ICT) constitutes only about 20 percent of merchandise and services exports, its impact on economic growth far exceeds its share of total global trade, said the Chairman of the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA) Dato’ San E. Khoo.

As such, he pointed out that ICT is an essential tool to revitalize cross-border trade and revive the world economy in the wake of the recession caused by the financial crisis of 2008.

ICT is an enabler of growth and development for all industries that together contribute an estimated $19.5 trillion in global trade last year.

Addressing an audience of ICT players at the Asia-Pacific Digital Innovation Summit (APDIS 2009) held in Melbourne, he said: “As a horizontal tool, ICT is an enabler of growth and development for all other industries that collectively contribute to the other 80% of global trade.”

“For it is ubiquitous in any and every industry, from traditional sectors like agriculture, manufacturing, medical and education to new ones like biotechnology and green tech,” he continued.

ICT tools like e-commerce, mobile commerce, web portals, business matching and customer relationship management systems are bringing a whole new dimension to how other industries operate, do business and reach out to markets, added Khoo.

According to WITSA, global ICT spending totalled $3.8 trillion in 2008, a figure that technology research house Gartner Inc. predicts will drop by 4% in 2009.

Khoo also cautioned against the move by some governments in adopting protectionist measures to reduce unemployment as well as current account and trade deficits, saying they could instead hamper global economy recovery.

“No country can protect its way out of a recession. History has taught us that protectionist measures in the years following the Depression had brought on a double dip of economic pain.
Instead, what we need is a reversal of this approach. What we need are aggressive promotion and active facilitation of global trade as the means of revitalizing the world economy,” he said.

Stimulating trade, he said, would have the knock-on effect on the global economy as promoting domestic consumption to rescue national economies from downturns and recessions.

Trade creates jobs and builds businesses, which in turn, would generate demand and fuel supply in both the developed and developing worlds, added Khoo.

Founded in 1978, the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA) is a leading consortium of ICT industry associations from over 70 economies. WITSA’s members represent more than 90 percent of the world ICT market.

As the leading global voice of the ICT industry, WITSA aims to drive transformation and grow the industry. WITSA believes ICT is the key driving force to enable governments, businesses and societies for global development and economic growth.