Policy Statement
by
H. E. Agum Gumelar, Minister of Communications
Department of Communications, The Republic of Indonesia

Tuesday, 19 March 2002

Your Excellencies,
Mr Yoshio Utsumi, Secretary General of ITU
Mr Fatih Mehmet Yurdal, President of the Telecommunication Authority of the Republic of Turkey
Mr Hamadoun I. Toure, Director of BDT
Distinguished delegates to the World Telecom Development Conference 2002
Distiguished members of the ITU
Ladies and Gentlemen

It is a great honor and pleasure for me to be part of the World Telecom Development Conference 2002, held here in Istanbul, Turkey. I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Republic of Turkey as the host of this year’s WTDC and also present my deepest gratitude for their warm hospitality.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Global trends in telecommunication have expanded the world’s connectivity, convergence, and convenience. The technological advancements had significantly changed the face of the global telecommunication industry – from what used to be mainly voice and data traffic through international gateways and domestic public switches – into a borderless multi-modal application of voice, data and video communication.

Through this year’s WTDC, I hope that we will all have a fruitful discussion relating to problems, relations and opportunities among the nations who are present in this Meeting today, and also other important issues such as the Digital Divide, which we altogether, hopefully, will find a solution to narrow down the Digital Divide.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I believe that the developing countries are facing many problems in the ICT development, which I will briefly describe to you.

First, the regulatory bodies. Each developing country needs to strengthen their regulatory bodies and develop their regulatory framework in order to succeed in such development.

Second, the gap between the ideal network or infrastructure and the reality today. The gap is likely to remain wide for many years to come. The major reason is the lack of experience in managing ICT development and the rapid development of ICT, which makes today’s technology obsolete tomorrow.

Third, the lack of ICT infrastructure. The problem that faces the developing countries is the high cost of building such infrastructure. What is required is low cost infrastructure. The requirement in developing countries is significantly different; to provide lower-cost basic access with a reasonable basket of important services such as Internet and voice communication. All the known techniques need to be harnessed to reduce the cost of telecom infrastructure. Such an endeavor alone can make telecom and Internet services widely affordable in the developing countries. Therefore, I find that government involvement remains essential in the construction of infrastructure in the rural areas and remote locations.

Fourth, the high cost of information technology. I believe that developing country which encourages ICT with a climate conducive to investment is likely to attract foreign investment in sectors related to information technology. In addition, it is possible that developed country companies that see market opportunities in developing countries will transfer some technology in order to be able to explore those market opportunities.

Last but not least, access to technology. It cannot be presumed that the development of ICT, by itself, would necessarily lead to transfer of technology from developed to developing countries. This is likely to be a complex process, involving questions of investment, expertise, government policies, market access etc.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I feel that the time has come for all of us to sit together and discuss the problems faced by the all nation, especially the developing countries. I believe that there may be differences of opinions and therefore it is important for us to listen to each other and to work together in order to reach a conclusion that is reflective of the needs and conditions of all nations.

Thank You.