ITU TELECOM EVENTS

For ITU Telecom, the year 2000 was marked primarily by the successful organization of the americas 2000 and asia 2000 events, in Rio de Janeiro and Hong Kong.

ITU Telecom americas 2000 was the fourth regional telecommunications Exhibition and Forum for the Americas region. The event was held from 10 to15 April, at the RioCentro Exhibition and Conference Centre, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and was hosted by the Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil.

Around 17000 trade visitors came to americas 2000 to see the latest technology and services on display from 303 exhibitors from the telecommunication, information technology and audio-visual entertainment fields.

On Sunday 9 April 2000, Yoshio Utsumi inaugurated the event. The ceremony was also honoured by the participation of Fernando Henrique Cardoso, the President of the Federative Republic of Brazil.

The Forum at americas 2000 covered the whole breadth of the telecommunication field. More than 300 speakers came from 42 different countries and a dozen international organizations such as CITEL, the European Commission, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank. Altogether more than 1 100 people attended the Forum, which encompassed a Policy and Regulatory Summit, an Infrastructure and Applications Summit, a Telecom Development Symposium, and various combined sessions, which had a strong focus on the impact of the digital revolution.

	EXHIBITORS
303	from 25 countries
6	National Pavilions
22 535 m2	of exhibition space, net 1
	VISITORS
17 100	Registered Trade Visitors 2
	VIPs
28	Ministers
28	Ambassadors
2	Regulators
23	Directors-General
15	CEOs from Operators
160	National Delegations
164	CEOs from Exhibitors
27	Other VIPs
447	Total VIPs from 51 countries
	ACCREDITED MEDIA
407	Accredited Media who attended the event from
27	countries and 249 publications
	FORUM
715	Forum delegates from 36 countries
73	Telecom Development Symposium sponsored delegates from 40 countries
321	Forum speakers from 42 countries
1 109	Total Forum Participants
1  Including upper floors. 2  Does not include exhibitors, exhibitors’ staff and their invited guests.

ITU Telecom Asia 2000 was the fifth regional telecommunications Exhibition and Forum for the Asia-Pacific region. It was  held from 4 to 9 December at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC), Hong Kong SAR, China, and was hosted by the Government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

Asia 2000 was the ITU’s largest and most successful regional Telecom event ever, and featured world and regional leaders from the telecoms and IT industries as well as key figures from governments across the region. More than 50 000 trade participants attended the event.

A spectacular Opening Ceremony was held on Sunday 3 December, featuring performers in London, New York and Hong Kong singing in unison.

	EXHIBITORS
500	from 29 countries
12	National Pavilions
27 896 m2	of exhibition space, net 1 (48.5% increase on AsiaTelecom 97)
19 653	Exhibitor personnel and their Guests 2
	VISITORS
28 450	Registered Trade Visitors 3
	VIPs
33	Ministers
5	Ambassadors
5	Regulators
19	Directors-General
11	CEOs from Operators
50	Consuls-General
321	CEOs from Exhibitors
235	Other VIPs
679	Total VIPs from 77 countries
	ACCREDITED MEDIA
810	From 44 countries and 437 publications
271	accompanying Photographers/Camera crews
1 081	Total Media on-site
	FORUM
883	Forum delegates from 51 countries
75	Telecom Development Symposium sponsored delegates from 38 countries
235	Forum speakers from 39 countries
1 193	Total Forum Participants
1  Including upper floors. 2  Guests were invited by Exhibitors to the event. These were registered separately from other trade visitors. 3  As of Thursday 7 December at 18h00. Friday 8 and Saturday 9 December were Public Days and the numbers were not therefore counted.

They were followed by dancers, Chinese dragons and dramatic pyrotechnic displays. The ceremony was officiated by Bangguo Wu, Vice Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, Yoshio Utsumi, ITU Secretary-General, and Chee Hwa Tung, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. A keynote speech was also given by Richard Li, the Executive Chairman of Pacific Century CyberWorks, the sponsor of the Opening Ceremony.

The Forum at Asia 2000 spanned a huge range of telecommunication topics, with more than 250 speakers and over 1 200 people participating in total. The Forum encompassed a Policy and Development Summit, an Infrastructure Summit, a Telecom Development Symposium and various Roundtable sessions, all of which maintained a strong focus on the impact of the digital revolution.

FUTURE EVENTS

Work was performed on preparing for the future ITU Telecom events to take place from 2001 to 2003. See http://www.itu.int/itutelecom for further details.