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AFRICA
TELECOM 94:
25 to 29 April, Cairo, Egypt
AFRICA
TELECOM 94 was the third regional ITU
TELECOM event for the Africa region, and far bigger than the preceding two events. The Exhibition and Forum was held at the newly built Cairo International Conference Centre.
At the Opening Ceremony, His Excellency Mr Mohamed Hosni Mubarak, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, said "We are meeting in Cairo to witness the birth of wider cooperation between the countries of the African continent and the Middle East. This meeting is intended to be an embodiment of the common interests of the developing countries regardless of their regional affiliation and of their legitimate right – if not their duty – to benefit from the state-of-the-art in the field of telecommunications."
Guests of honour included His Excellency, Mr Soliman Metwally Soliman, Egypt’s Minister of Communications, Transport and Civil Aviation, and Ambassador Joseph Verner Reed, Under Secretary-General of the United Nations, who delivered a message on behalf of Dr Boutros Boutros-Ghali.
"Integrating Africa regionally and globally: a challenge for telecommunications and development" was the theme chosen for
AFRICA
TELECOM 94
– reflecting the ITU's commitment to the challenge of reversing the growing disparity in telecommunications development between the African and Middle East region and the rest of the world.
A high level of government support was shown on the eve of the official opening when Ministers and Directors-General attended a private tour of the Exhibition to view the Exhibition, where 285 Exhibitors from 49 countries had set up stands over some 7,700 m2 of net exhibition space to display their latest products and services.
AFRICA
TELECOM 94
– Event Statistics
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Visitors
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11,783 from
75 countries
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Exhibitors
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285 exhibitors from
49 countries
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Exhibition space
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13,000 m2
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Ministers
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54
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Delegates from Administrations
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204
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Directors-General
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72
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Ambassadors
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31
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Chief Executive Officers
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331
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Forum speakers
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210 from
64 countries
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Forum participants
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1,119 from
95 countries
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Accredited press
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193 journalists from
26 countries of which 94 represented the international press
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During the week, nearly 12,000 telecoms professionals visited the Exhibition halls.
Running in parallel with the Exhibition, the Forum sessions were addressed by over 200 leading experts from both the public and private sectors, and attracted over 1,000 delegates from almost half of the ITU Member countries.
The programme included plenary sessions addressed by keynote speakers and interactive panel and workshop sessions from which extremely positively feedback was received. This new format encouraged lively debate on vital issues concerning the telecommunication infrastructure of Africa and the Middle East – including: the support required and constraints involved for development and installation; healthcare telematics; user needs; private networks and applications; tariffs; low cost technical approaches; broadcasting and TV coverage; regional cooperation and training.
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For
further information, please contact the TELECOM
Secretariat at +41 22 730 6161 (phone) or +41 22
730 6444 (fax), or see the TELECOM web site at www.itu.int/ITUTELECOM.
For media representatives, please contact the
AFRICA 2001 Press Service at +41 22 730 5599
(phone) or +41 22 730 6444 (fax) |
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Contact Details