Policy Statement
by
Mr. G. Hugh Railton
Deputy Executive Director Elect.
Asia-Pacific Telecommunity

Tuesday, 26 March 2002

Mr Chairman,
Mr Secretary General,
Mr Deputy Secretary General,
Mr Director of the BDT,
Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen

It is a great pleasure today for me to address you on behalf of the Members of the Asia Pacific Telecommunity here in this beautiful, and exciting city of Istanbul.

In 1979, about the time that most of the ITU members were preparing for the last general revision of the Radio Regulations being the World Administrative Radio Conference Geneva1979, 15 nations of the Asia Pacific area, were joining together under the umbrella of ESCAP, to create the Asia Pacific Telecommunity, known as the APT. The driving forces that created the APT were similar to those that brought the 20 initial members of ITU together in Paris, long ago in May 1865.

The APT is a regional organization created in the spirit of the arrangements outlined in Article 43 of the ITU Constitution Minneapolis 1998. Over the last 23 years the APT has grown significantly in membership and functionality.

The APT now has 32 members stretching from Iran in West to the Cook Islands in the East. Our region is very diverse consisting of countries of great populations as well as remote Pacific Islands that are sparsely inhabited. It is estimated that some two thirds of the global population live within the APT region.

In November last year the Management Committee reviewed and confirmed the objectives of the APT as follows:

1. The Objective of the Telecommunity shall be to foster the development of the telecommunication services and information infrastructure throughout the region with a particular focus on the expansion of services in less developed areas:
2. In furtherance thereof, the Telecommunity may:

   a. Foster the expansion of telecommunication services and information infrastructure and maximize the benefits of information and telecommunications technology for the welfare of the people in the region,

   b. Promote regional cooperation in the area of common interest covering radio communications, standardization and development.

   c. Undertake studies relating to developments in telecommunication technology and policy and regulation in coordination with other international organizations, where pertinent.

As can be seen the APT and the ITU share a common vision of improving the life style of communities throughout the world, through the development and enhancement of telecommunications services to our people.

Within the Human Resources Development Programme the APT will invest some US$ 2 million this financial year in the training of telecommunications staff as well as the provision of scholarships to enable as many members as possible to participate in our work through attendance at our meetings and conferences.

Most of the technical training is carried out through the generosity of the more developed nations of our region. The courses and seminars have provided and excellent opportunity for the staff from the developing countries within the region to have first hand experience on the latest sophisticated telecommunications technology and best engineering practice.

In this way the APT believes that it is making a meaningful contribution to the telecommunications development within the region.

Turning to our theme of the "digital divide". In the Asia Pacific region, the geography alone gives meaning to the term. Bringing the benefits of the modern electronic mediums to the remote population centres or even to some of the more populated areas is a huge challenge for our members.

You will be aware sir that in November 2000, the Ministers for information and communications from through out Asia and the Pacific meet in Tokyo at the APT Asia-Pacific Summit on the Information Society. Details of the Summit Declaration known as the Tokyo Declaration, can be found in Document INF-13. This declaration covers:

The forming of a shared vision
Bridging the Digital Divide
Developing Information and Communication Infrastructure
Essential Applications for the Information Society
Human Resource Development and Enhancement of ICT Literacy
Regional Cooperation
Global Cooperation

The Target for Internet Access Phase One says

" We the Ministers declare that we will do our best, in both domestic and through international co-operation, to enable people in the Asia Pacific region to have access to the internet by the year 2005 to the extent possible, including access from public facilities such as schools and post offices"

We in the APT are committed to helping our members as much as possible to make this target.

The APT has submitted nine documents to this Conference for your consideration. Later in this year the APT will hold a further preparatory meeting for the WSIS, once again re-affirming the resolve of the Members to take all possible steps to address the current lack of services in many areas

While the APT strives to make its contribution to the process, we cannot of course hope to do it alone. We must rely on the cooperation of others, in particular our friends in the ITU.

I must report ladies and gentlemen that the co-operation between the ITU and the APT is very good. We compliment each other in our strengths. The ITU with its global outlook and approach is truly a window on telecommunications development, while within the Regional organizations we strive to understand the needs and aspirations of our members.

Thus by working together and recognizing our individual roles, we can achieve more and avoid duplication of effort thus maximizing the benefits that can be realized from the available funds.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am honoured to be here this day to represent the APT and to assist in any way I can with the tasks at hand. I thank the Director for giving me this opportunity to address you and I would also like to take the opportunity to thank our hosts, the Turkish Administration for their kind hospitality.

Finally, after what will be I am sure a highly successful Conference, may I wish you all a safe journey back to your homes and your families.