And, in spite of Dr. Mahathir's grand Muli-Media Corridor idea, the country is also lagging behind much of developed Asia in technology, Internet development, e-commerce etc.

CNN: Business: Malaysia's Stock Market

Prominent in a closing statement by the economic leaders of APEC in Brunei was an acknowledgement that the Internet and other forms of communications technology have dramatically boosted the development of the global economy.

CNN: Asean, APEC move to boost e-commerce and bridge Asia's digital divide

Among the issues the women will be discussing at the three-day summit are ways to bridge the technology gap, including use of the internet in business development, strategies to cope with the economic impact of Aids and war, especially in Africa, financing women's enterprises and understanding trade agreements as globalisation continues to have an adverse impact on developing societies.

BBC: Nelson Mandela at the conference

Miao Wei, minister of Industry and Information Technology, called upon internet companies to strengthen their research and development to ensure better censorship of content.

BBC: Chinese firms to increase censorship of online content

Technology companies, foundations and development agencies invested heavily in computers and Internet access but the results were disappointing.

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