| Press Release |
|
International Telecommunication Union
For immediate release |
Telephone: +41 22 730 6039
Fax: +41 22 730 5939
E-mail |
| |
South Africa to Host 25th ITU TELECOM Event
AFRICA 2001 – Johannesburg, 12-16 November
Geneva, 06 November 2000 — Yoshio Utsumi, Secretary-General of the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU), has announced that the fifth international telecommunications exhibition and forum for the Africa
region will be held at the Gallagher Estate, Johannesburg, next year. The event will be the 25th ITU TELECOM event and will be hosted by the
Government of the Republic of South Africa.
"The ITU is delighted to have the opportunity of staging an event as important as ITU TELECOM AFRICA 2001 in South Africa," said Mr Utsumi.
"Africa is the region of the world still most in need of telecommunications development, and it is my hope that the AFRICA 2001 event will enable us to take another leap
forward in this most important of areas."
The ITU received invitations with very attractive conditions from a number of countries in the region to host AFRICA 2001, and it was not therefore easy to decide on the host country. 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, Yoshio Utsumi accepted the offer of the Government of the
Republic of South Africa to host the event.
The event was officially launched in Johannesburg on Monday 23 October by the ITU and the Government of the Republic of South
Africa. At the launch South Africa’s Minister for Communications, Dr Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, said "South Africa is
particularly honoured and exalted to be able to make this important announcement and to host one of the biggest landmark events
for the global communications sectors." Dr Matsepe-Casaburri went on to say "This event represents an opportunity of
untold proportions. It will give the African continent a launch pad for ICT [Information and Communication Technologies]
development infrastructure."
The launch event was attended by an audience of 350 people including Government Ministers, regulators, industry
representatives and journalists. Ministers responsible for Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) from all
sub-regions of Sub-Saharan Africa were present at the launch of AFRICA 2001, showing the support for the event from across the
continent.
AFRICA 2001 will be held from Monday 12 to Friday 16 November 2001. The Gallagher
Estate venue is ideally located at Midrand, between Johannesburg and Pretoria, and is close to South Africa’s largest
concentration of hotels. The venue offers advanced forum facilities and over 28,000 m2 of gross exhibition
space. AFRICA 2001 therefore promises to be the biggest telecommunications event ever
held in Africa.
The previous regional event in Africa, AFRICA TELECOM 98, was
attended by 443 exhibitors, nearly 20,000 participants coming from 117 countries, and 475 VIPs, comprising Ministers of
Communications, Delegates from Administrations, Ambassadors, Directors-General, and Chairmen and Chief Executive Officers. The
event was hailed as a triumph by many of Africa’s leaders. AFRICA TELECOM
98 was notable for the commitment and tremendous spirit of optimism expressed by government ministers, exhibitors, Forum
speakers, delegates and the world’s media.
The ITU’s unique position as a specialized agency of the United Nations enables it to bring together in Johannesburg 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 Africa.
The AFRICA 2001 event will be the 25th TELECOM event
since World TELECOM was first held in Geneva in 1971. The regional events, which include TELECOMs
for the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Africa regions, 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.
Previous AFRICA TELECOM events took place in Johannesburg, South
Africa in 1998, Cairo, Egypt in 1994, Harare, Zimbabwe in 1990, and Nairobi, Kenya in 1986.
| Forthcoming ITU TELECOM events:
The next ITU TELECOM event being held is Asia 2000, which is
being hosted by the Government of the People’s Republic of China and held in Hong Kong SAR, from 4 to 9 December
2000.
It will be followed by Middle East & Arab States 2001, which is being hosted by the Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt. It will be
staged at the Cairo International Conference Centre from Monday 7 to Thursday 10 May 2001. In the year 2002 there
will be regional events for both the Americas and Asia-Pacific regions, with dates and venues to be announced later
in the year.
Completing the current four year cycle will be ITU TELECOM
World 2003, which will take place at Palexpo in Geneva from 12 to 18 October 2003. |
For further information on ITU TELECOM and the AFRICA 2001 event
please contact:
Piers Letcher
Press and Public Relations Officer, ITU TELECOM
Tel: +41 22 730 6602 / Fax: +41 22 730 6444
E-mail: piers.letcher@itu.int
About ITU
|
