MANILA, Philippines -- Representatives from APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) countries have signed anew an agreement to collaborate on several areas including ?cybersecurity? and universal access.

Dubbed the ?Bangkok Declaration,? the accord was signed by 21 APEC member-countries at the APEC Ministerial Meeting on Telecommunications and Information Industry (or TELMIN) in Thailand.

The Bangkok Declaration, created to add a social perspective to the APEC agenda, stresses the need for reliable infrastructure and service. The Declaration states ?Ensuring universally accessibly ICT infrastructure and services to bridge the digital divide is crucial to our future social and economic prosperity,? and that economies should ?continue their efforts to expand the reach of networks with the ambitious goal of achieving universal access to broadband by 2015.?

The Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) represented the country at the meeting.

In this year's TELMIN, member-countries shared strategies in pushing for "digital prosperity" in the region, according to statement from the CICT.

The declaration, according to CICT, focuses on various themes like trade liberalization among APEC economies, universal access, flexible regulatory frameworks, cyber security and ICT capacity building.

CICT secretary Anthony Roxas-Chua delivered a speech on cybersecurity during the plenary sessions.

APEC representatives held a seminar last March in Tokyo, Japan discussing ICT capacity-building in rural communities. The CICT served as "project overseer" during the Tokyo seminar.