The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum must prepare a business environment that will foster e-commerce in the region, according to participants in the two-day APEC/E-Commerce Convention that ended Tuesday in Tokyo.

Governments must take the initiative in helping the APEC region overcome problems such as the "digital divide" and Internet security, while the private sector must press governments to remove obstructions to developing IT-related businesses, the participants said.

The two-day informal forum was the first APEC conference in which member economies agreed upon the potential of the IT revolution and policy challenges they face in areas including telecommunications, taxation, legal systems, business transactions and technical standardization, officials of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry said.

Fifty-five governmental and private-sector experts from 13 economies took part in the conference, which was co-chaired by Japan, the United States and Brunei. It drew an audience of more than 400 people.

The information gathered during the conference will be reported to meetings of APEC senior officials and trade ministers, scheduled for early next month in Darwin, Australia. It is expected to serve as a springboard for future discussions under the APEC framework, they said.

On Monday, trade chief Takashi Fukaya said the findings of the convention are also likely to be reflected during the Group of Eight Summit in Okinawa in July, where the IT issue will be a high priority.