Dear Distinguished Colleagues
Ladies and Gentlemen
Let me start by thanking Republic of Korea for hosting this year's Plenipotentiary Meeting of ITU. This is a huge commitment and your efforts are truly appreciated.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I have the honour today to give a short account on some of the current issues in Hungary that are closely related to this event and to ITU's Connect 2020.
This year has been unique for us in Hungary. We can say that previous years' hard work of putting the Hungarian economy on the right track already started to pay off.
We set a high standard for our policy goals and recent economic developments seem to justify our vision of turning Hungary to one of the engines of industries of Europe and the European Union.
This engine could not be productive without a core element: the infocommunications industry that has showed a steady growth even in the middle of the financial turmoil.
The industry has already proven that its competitiveness lies with expanding capacities, fostering digital competences and integrating SMEs into the world trade market.
Now it's the policy makers' turn to give a clear guidance and to provide an opportunity to keep the competitive nature of the sector on the long run. This idea enjoys the overall support of governmental institutions, non-governmental organizations, the independent regulatory authority and sector specific advocacy groups alike.
In light of the above we are all proud that two important initiatives related to the sector have been launched recently: the National Infocommunications Strategy and the Digital Nation Development Programme.
Both strategies are built on four pillars – fully aligned with ITU's strategic thinking. These elements will ensure that the ICT sector will be at the service of job creation, research and development, sustainable economic growth and social solidarity.
After carefully identifying industry trends and horizontal development targets a series of objectives were defined perfectly matching the four complementary goals of Connect 2020.
The establishment of an ultrafast new generation network infrastructure in every Hungarian settlement will enable overall access to the Internet. This allows virtually every citizen and SME to benefit from the use of Information and Communication Technologies.
Beyond accessibility we have put great emphasis on the digital convergence of the nation. Decreasing the number of digitally illiterate population is only one part of the job. We have made one step further and with the help of motivational campaigns, educational trainings and digital and media awareness centres conscious use of ICT and media tools are strongly promoted.
In order to ensure a sustainable and healthy digital ecosystem a series of new challenges must also be overcome. The National Cyberspace Strategy has provided a good framework for protecting users online while further strategic partnerships have helped us fight cybercrime and protect children from the hazards of the digital world.
Besides these developments a wide range of state incubation programmes for ICT start-ups will be aimed at contributing to similar success stories like those of world famous Hungarian firms of the sector that have already proven their reason for existence.
Ladies and Gentlemen, all these efforts testify that we are greatly committed to achieve the goals of the Connect 2020 initiative and building on these strategic ideas we are bound to have an ICT metropolis established in the middle of Europe.
Ever since ITU was founded it has played an important role in our life. It's about time to reinforce this bond and help ITU convey its message to every single user in the digital society. Showing what we have done in the spirit of the Connect 2020 targets is like making them tangible and more realistic to people allowing them to identify themselves with this ambition.
With that I would like to thank you for your kind attention and wish a fruitful conference for every participant.
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