STORY:
Y2K Bug Centerpiece Of Worldwide Conference

Big countries pushing little countries to fix the problem

The millennium bug is on the agenda of more than 170 countries and a major international campaign is under way to help fix it. Computer experts meeting in New York are urging participating countries to use the next six months to do as much as possible to fix computer systems, to be open about problems - and to make contingency plans for computer failures or possible hoarding of money and food. And they urged ordinary people around the world not to panic.

According to an Associated Press story appearing in the Australian Financial Review, the bug will live into the new millennium, despite widespread optimism that major catastrophes will be avoided because significant progress has been made.

Ahmad Kamal, who chairs the UN working group dealing with Y2K problems, told a news conference that reports from every region "succeeded in creating greater optimism than was expected at the first global conference in December." "Obviously an enormous amount of work has been done," he said. "Action is under way everywhere, by and large according to schedule."

Russia reported this morning that the testing of its nuclear power plants will be completed by September "so we will not have any unforeseen disruptions in that particular sector", Kamal said.

Because there has been so much emphasis on possible banking problems, it is no longer a high-risk sector, Kamal said. Now, the focus is on shipping, health care, tourism, trade and small and medium-size businesses which dominate the developing world.

Central American and Caribbean countries, for example, are worried about possible disruptions in shipping food and oil exporters about getting critical fuel to major markets, including the US, Kamal said.

Winter tourist destinations are concerned that fear of flying during the millennium will hurt business, and developing countries need more money to cope with Y2K problems, he said.

Source: AP / Australian Financial Review

DATE: 6/23/99

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