Following the UNCTAD-UNESCAP Asia-Pacific Regional Conference on E-commerce Strategies for Development (Bangkok, 20-22 November 2002) and the World Summit on Information Society - First Phase (Geneva, 10-12 December 2003), UNESCAP has developed a 3-phase regional technical assistance project for e-commerce legal and regulatory system development in Asia and the Pacific.

The objective of the project is to ensure that the legal professionals (lawmakers, regulators, lawyers and judges) develop a common understanding of e-commerce legal and regulatory issues to facilitate harmonized development of e-commerce related regulations and jurisprudence in the region.

Phase I of the project was implemented in cooperation with the Interrnational Trade Centre UNCTAD/WTO, UNCITRAL and UNCTAD, and with the support of the Government of France. The main activity of phase I of the project was a Regional Conference on Harmonized Development of Legal and Regulatory Systems for E-commerce in Asia and the Pacific. The Conference discussed current challenges and capacity building needs of legal professionals (lawmakers, regulators, lawyers and judges). Phase II and III feature capacity building activities at the regional and national levels, respectively, to be developed and implemented jointly by cooperating agencies.