Singapore to host Asia TELECOM 97

Geneva, 8 March 1996 — Asia TELECOM 97 will be held in Singapore from 9-14 June next year. The event will take place in Singapore's World Trade Centre, which is ideally located and offers advanced exhibition and forum facilities. The organizer, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), received invitations with very attractive conditions from several countries in the region, and it was not easy to decide on the venue. After many consultations and a series of negotiations, however, and taking into account the particular considerations of infrastructure, accommodation, transport and conference and exhibition facilities, the Secretary-General of the ITU, Dr Pekka Tarjanne, has accepted the offer of the Telecommunication Authority of Singapore (TAS) to host Asia TELECOM 97 in Singapore.

The ITU's unique position as a specialized agency of the United Nations enables it to bring together in Singapore all the strategic players in the world of telecommunications, where visitors, exhibitors and speakers will have access to the technology and ideas that will shape the future for the Asia-Pacific region.

Following the remarkable success of Asia TELECOM 93, Asia TELECOM 97 promises to be the biggest telecommunications event ever held in the region, with over 32,000 m2 of air-conditioned exhibition space, and is expected to attract over 400 companies from more than 30 countries. The previous regional event in Asia, Asia TELECOM 93, was attended by 371 exhibitors, 32,000 visitors coming from 90 countries, and 323 VIPs, comprising Ministers of Communications, Directors-General, Chairmen and Chief Executive Officers.

The 31 countries of the Asia-Pacific region constitute the world's largest single market for telecommunications products and services. The regional average telephone density is just five per hundred against a world average of 12, but the Asia-Pacific region is the fastest growing in the world today, and, in the coming five years, investment in the region's telecommunications market is expected to exceed US$ 300 billion.

Asia TELECOM 97 will be the eighteenth TELECOM event since World TELECOM was first held in Geneva, in 1971. The regional events, which include Americas, Asia and Africa TELECOMS, were introduced in 1985 in order to address the more specific concerns of the individual regions. Since then these events have grown in size and prestige and have become the most respected and authoritative in the world. The world and regional events are now held in four year cycles in order to ensure adequate global coverage across all 184 Member countries of the ITU, and each regional event has shown huge growth over its predecessors. Asia TELECOM 93 was more than three times as big as Asia TELECOM 89, and six times larger than Asia TELECOM 85.

Asia TELECOM 97 is a special session of the World TELECOM Exhibition and Forum. The exhibition will feature a vast range of telecommunications-related products and services, while the associated forum will focus on the latest telecommunication developments and growth and will provide a platform for telecommunication leaders to share their ideas on future trends and discuss appropriate strategies for the developing as well as the industrialized world.

For additional information, please contact:

Mr Tom Dahl-Hansen
Senior Vice-President,
Business Development and Marketing Division, TELECOM
E-mail (Internet): dahl-hansen@itu.ch
Telephone: +41 22 730 5298
Fax: +41 22 730 6444