1.1 2005 New Grants Approval
A 2005 call for grant proposals was announced to APEC member economies and relevant institutions in September, seeking projects designed to provide disadvantaged youth with useful educational opportunities to help reduce the digital divide and enhance their capacity to be successful participants in a knowledge-based society. In response to the call, 89 institutions from 18 member economies and several non-member economies submitted grant applications. Each proposal has been carefully examined and evaluated according to the general criteria of the Foundation.

In November, grants in the amount of US$900,000 were approved to the six projects at the fifth Board of Governors meeting held in Seoul, Korea. Eight member economies participate in developing the projects under the management of five member economies (Korea, Peru, Philippines, Russia, and United States), which separately supervised each designated project. The awarded projects are as follows:

1.2 Progress of ICT Capacity Building SMEs Projects
The grants in the amount of US$719,500 for the six projects approved at the 4th Board meeting in January 2004 have been distributed in three installments (30% at the beginning, 30% upon receiving mid-term report and 40% upon completion with final report) upon receiving and reviewing the mid-term and final reports.

The Foundation’s progress with these projects was presented at relevant APEC meetings including the SME WG Meeting, the HRD WG Meeting and the Meetings of ESC. At the meetings, the Foundation’s leadership and financial support in ICT capacity building of small and micro enterprises were favorably recognized, and member economies were encouraged to strengthen partnerships and cooperation with the APEC Education Foundation. Major outcome(or expected outcome) of each project is as follows:

A. [Korea (and 15 other APEC economies)] “ICT Capacity Building for Women’s Micro and Small Enterprises” implemented by Asia Pacific Women’s Information Network Centre (APWINC), Sookmyung Women’s University

APWINC held E-biz training for 26 businesswomen and policy-makers in Asia Pacific economies from July 26 to August 7, 2004. Also it hosted a regional seminar ‘E-business and Opportunities for Women in Asia-Pacific’ on 28-30 March 2005 at Bangkok with over 80 participants from Asia Pacific economies. The website (http://apweb.women.or.kr) was established and providing directory service and newsletter to on/off line members.

B. [Australia (in partnership with Chile, China, the Philippines, and Vietnam)] “Human Capacity Building Project for Small and Micro Environmental Business” implemented by APEC Virtual Center for Environmental Technology Exchange (APEC-VC) Australia Inc.

With the effort of the HCBEB Steering Committee from China, Chile, Philippines and Vietnam, HCBEB project successfully developed a training course based on a strong network of support for SMEs. Also, it focused on developing additional functionality for the APEC-VC Mete Node. The APEC-VC workshop has achieved significant outcomes of making respective governments more aware of the importance of the project. Finally, it established a business/technology exchange program between the economies of Chile and China.

C. [Mexico] “Micro-business and Micro-banking information web site” implemented by University of Colima
<Expected outcomes>
The information website (MMIW) as well as the web community will give users business opportunities to sell products and export to Asian economies. It will provide 1) the legal advice and consultancy pertaining to any legal matter, 2) an online-training needed to assist micro-businesses, and 3) various financing programs implemented by federal government as well as the technical support with building a prototype (Micro-Business and Micro-Banking version 1.0).

D. [Canada & Korea (13 economies participating in the APEC-IBIZ)] “To create and deliver relevant programming intended to enhance the use of ICTs by new and existing small and micro businesses operating in the APEC region” implemented by The Acadia Centre for Small Business & Entrepreneurship in association with The Korea Management and Technology consulting Association on behalf of APEC Network of Small Business Counsellors

A learning module was created and delivered by on-line workshops.
The use of web CT was selected as the learning platform and use of the Acadia University license for delivery was negotiated.
Beta development and testing was completed.

E. [Thailand] “Internet and Communication Technology for Community Enterprise Development” implemented by Thai APEC Study Center, Thammasat University
Training materials and soft ware, ‘SIMNET’, were developed and using for 4 training sessions which were held at 1) Khon Kaen University, 23/04/05, 2) Chiang Mai University, 13/05/05, 3) Prince of Songkla University, 18/06/05, and 4) Thammasat University, 24/06/05.

F. [United States] “Establishing an Asia-Pacific Network of University Internet Studies Program” implemented by Center for Internet Studies, University of Washington
<Expected outcomes>
University Internet Studies programs will provide a core group of faculty across several disciplines and undertake innovative curricular and program activities such as teaching, applied research and service. Through this program, students will be provided a new field of study and even reach out to the local business community to engage its leaders in the support and development of specific activities that will enable the students to become better prepared entrepreneurs and business people. During project, ‘Partner workshop’ and ‘Asian Conference’ were held.

1.3 Monitoring Grant Programs

- The Executive Director, Dr. Jaebong Ro attended the seminar on ‘Higher Education, Information Technology and Sustainable Development’, which was organized by the Center for Internet Studies, University of Washington, and held in Manila, the Philippines, January 10-14, 2005.

- Dr. Ro attended the seminar on ‘E-business and Opportunities for Woman in Asia-Pacific’, which was organized by APWINC and held in Bangkok, Thailand, March28-30, 2005. He also made a keynote speech.

- The AEF Secretariat staff members were invited to the 2nd and 3rd training sessions, which were key programs of the Thailand project. Dr. Ro and Ms. Ye-Jun Chang participated in the training sessions held in Chiang Mai, Thailand on May 13 and Songklah, Thailand on June 18 respectively.

1.4 Progress of Consortium for APEC Cyber Education Cooperation (ACEC)
Contract with ACEC was terminated in June 2004, but due to pending issues within the ACEC submission of the final report has been delayed. The final report was submitted in November 2005. As making final installment of US$8,000 to ACEC, the project of ACEC was completed.

For narrowing the digital divide in the APEC region, the ACEC has completed the tasks coordinated by the AEF successfully with earnest support of constituent member economies. During last four years, the achievements of the Consortium have benefited APEC member economies. The Foundation congratulates its great achievements and appreciates for its contribution so far. The major achievements of the ACEC are as follows:

1.4.1. Enlarged scale of the project
As time goes by, the consortium has accelerated the growth of the scale of the projects with support of the AEF and earnest efforts of participating member economies’ governments. Prior, the ACEC Task I was focusing on collaborative activities through cyber education and then the activities have been coordinated with off-line activities like mobilizing human network and convening workshops.

In addition, the number of participating member economies is also enlarged from 4(ACEC Task I) to 8(ACEC Task II). And then, the number of participating member economies increased to 15 (ACEC Task III). So, the ACEC is a project with deepest attention of member economies and able to lead the trend of international cooperation in education for shared prosperity.

1.4.2. Networking multilateral stakeholders
Following tripartite working structure suggested by the APEC, the consortium has advanced the projects with the participation of stakeholders from government, non-government/institutes, and private/business sectors. For instance, the APEC Learning Community Builders (ALCoB) are for the human network of the APEC Learning Community for Shared Prosperity (ALCom) promoted by Korea as ACEC Task II. They are consisting of teachers, learners, and supporters from member economies. In particular, the ALCoB supporters are educators, businessmen, scholars, experts, and so on.

Through networking the above-mentioned tripartite stakeholders, the project enhanced compiling various ideas of APEC member economies and satisfied the needs of member economies as implementing the projects reflecting those ideas.

1.4.3. Establishing the new tradition of international cooperation in education
For favorably managing participating member economies’ projects, the ACEC has contributed to supporting member economies to access recent knowledge and information as a way of formulating a consortium. In this respect, member economies are able to participate in the international cooperation in education autonomously and promote their own projects based on the mutual understanding. Ultimately, these activities also enabled member economies to understand member economies’ cultural and educational differential through communicating each other and advance their projects effectively.

Regarding the achievements of the consortium, member economies are able to recognize the importance of ideal educational model for APEC next generation based on the present progress. As of 2005, constituent member economies of the ACEC are participating in the ACEC Task III, APEC Future Education Consortium for searching for ideal model of future education through conducting the APEC ICT Model School Network, APEC Future Education Forum and the APEC Future Education White Paper.

2. The Fifth Board of Governors Meeting

The Fifth Meeting of the Board of Governors was held from November 3-4 in Seoul, Korea to approve the Foundation’s 2005 new grants and review general affairs. The meeting was chaired by Professor Choong Yong Ahn of Chung-Ang University, while Dr. Robert Gard, President Emeritus of the Monterey Institute of International Studies, Professor Zhong-lie Wang of Beijing University and Dr. Carlos Salazar Silva, General Coordinator of Mexican Universities Consortium, took part as board members. At the meeting, the Board approved US $900,000 to six projects for 2005-2006 grants.

3. The First International Conference on AEF Activities 2001-2005

The first International Conference on AEF Activities 2001-2005 was held on November 3-4 in Seoul, Korea. The conference aimed at sharing experiences and knowledge of AEF-sponsored projects, establishing a useful network of similar projects, and exploring ways to contribute to APEC Ecotech by utilizing the output of previous AEF projects. Project managers of the seven projects under the AEF grants since 2001 participated in the conference and made a presentation on progress of each project. They also examined the current status and future directions of ICT capacity building and cyber education cooperation in the region. The Conference provided an important opportunity for project managers to share their experiences and knowledge on further developing education and human capacity building cooperation in the APEC region.

4. Participation in the APEC Activities

Working Group Meetings: HRD & SME
AEF participated in the 27th APEC HRD Working Group Meeting held in Pattaya, Thailand on June 20-24, 2005 and made a presentation on the Foundation’s recent progress at the Education Network(EDNET) Meeting.

EDNET expressed their appreciation to the Foundation for its financial support to the ACEC Task I and encouraged all economies to actively participate in the work of the Foundation and to further utilize the Foundation as an instrument for advancing APEC education cooperation, especially among disadvantaged groups in the region.

AEF also participated in the 21st SME Working Group Meeting held in Daegu, Korea on August 30-31, 2005 and made a presentation on the Foundation’s recent progress.

The 17th APEC Ministerial Meeting (November 15-16 in Busan, Korea)
At the 17th APEC Ministerial Meeting held in Busan, Korea in November, the APEC Ministers recognized the Foundation’s achievements as follows:

“Reaffirming the great importance of promoting education and training, Ministers welcomed the achievements made by the APEC Future Education Consortium and the APEC Education Foundation in accomplishing a learning community and a stable supporting system for educational development in the APEC region.”

5. New Executive Director appointed

Dr. Jaebong RO was resigned from Executive Director as of December 31, 2005, and Dr. Sang-yirl NAM, Research Fellow of the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP), was newly appointed Executive Director on January 1, 2006.