Honourable Prime Minister of Thailand, Honourable Heads of Governments and Prime Ministers, Ministers, Members of Parliament, CEOs, Members of the Press, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
At the outset I wish to thank the Hon. Prime Minister of Thailand for inviting me to participate and to speak today at ITU Connect Asia-Pacific. I bring you warm greetings from my island nation of Vanuatu, and congratulate you on hosting this great event. On behalf of my delegation I thank you for the courtesies extended to me and my delegation on arrival.
Please allow me this morning to take a few minutes to tell you about my country, our ICT achievements, our goals and views, why we are here today, and give you an invitation.
First, my country Vanuatu. Vanuatu is an archipelago of 82 islands with a total population of 250,000, located north of New Zealand and east of Australia. Our country is one of the most exotic on Earth, with beautiful beaches, excellent resorts, and a mild climate year round. We have one of the best wreck dive in the world, and fantastic snorkeling and diving. We have the most accessible volcano in the world, that puts on an amazing show every five minutes. Our people are open and friendly, with no ethnic tensions. Our government is democratic and welcoming to foreign investors.
Our islands are so lovely that one of the most famous island novels in the world was written about us -
Tales of the South Pacific, by James A. Michener, with its island paradise of "Bali Hai." That book became the award-winning play, movie and TV show
South Pacific. We have twice been awarded the Happiest place on earth - that's my Vanuatu.
Second, our ICT achievements. Our people, our press, and all our political parties support the expansion of ICTs. We have an open market with two major operators. We have an excellent, independent ICT regulator who is fair and open. Our mobile penetration has gone from just five percent to over 90 percent of households, in just six years.
We have built a $28 million dollar Government Broadband Network that functions extremely well. We established the first Internet Exchange in the Pacific islands, becoming a model for the Pacific region.
We established the Integrated Government Initiative, our version of e-government, which is installing modern applications in all ministries.
We held the first-ever National Face-to-Face Video-Conference, in which the Prime Minister answered tough questions from outer islanders and ordinary citizens.
Just two weeks ago we passed three major policies, namely:
- The National ICT Policy
- The National Cyber-security Policy, and
- The National Universal Access Policy.
All of these policies were drafted using experts, drawing on international experience, but customizing them to local conditions. All the policies were subjected to very broad public consultation, including video-conferences with villagers and chiefs in outer islands.
Even as we speak, our first submarine cable is being laid. This will link Vanuatu to the outside world with fantastic speed and capacity, for the first time in our history.
Because of all these activities, Vanuatu has moved up in the United Nations ratings of e-government by almost an entire standard deviation, in just two years.
Also because of all these activities and progress, I am confident that Vanuatu is now one of the best places in the Pacific to invest in ICTs.
Third, views and goals. Vanuatu sees ICTs as a key enabler and energizer for our efforts across all sectors. We see ICTs as important in themselves, and also key in achieving all our Millennium Development Goals. Through our new National ICT Policy, we have directed all ministries, policy-makers and major project managers to allocate a reasonable percentage of their budgets to ICTs, as enablers of success.
Our target is to be a leader in ICTs in Melanesia and our part of the world - the Pacific. We think we are well on the way to achieving this. We think that international ICT fora need more input from Pacific island nations, and we are ready to step step up and fill this gap.
Fourth, why we are here. We are concerned about possible loss of language and culture, in the face of the tsunami of Western content. Our people speak English, French, Bislama and over 120 island languages. We are the most linguistically and culturally dense country on Earth. So we are quite concerned about possible linguistic and cultural loss. We want to use ICTs to create local content. We want to document and celebrate local languages and cultures. We have submitted a grant application to this Summit, to support this very important activity. We strongly urge other countries to start using ICTs in this same way.
Additionally, our country has been rated by the UN as the most threatened on Earth by virtually every form of natural disaster. We are particularly concerned with volcanic activity and cyclones. Hence we have submitted an application to this Summit to support the installation of a network of volcanic and weather monitoring stations. This network will be linked via ICTs, in real time, to our disaster headquarters.
Last but not least, I want to invite you to visit our country. Many of you may have never heard of Vanuatu before. I hope you will remember Vanuatu now, as a leader in ICTs in the Pacific. I invite you to our National ICT Day on May 17, 2014 to come see for yourself. I can promise you a huge parade and a warm welcome.
I adamant that you will be enchanted with our beautiful, progressive island nation of Vanuatu.
Thank you for your attention, merci beaucoup,
