On behalf of the Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union and myself, Deputy Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union, it is a pleasure for me to address you today in this Opening Ceremony of EXPO COMM ARGENTINA 2008.
 

First of all, I would like to thank the Argentine Government and CICOMRA for inviting me to this country to share with you this important event that has been taking place for 16 years successfully. I sincerely congratulate you on your achievements.
 

Being with you at this main event of the telecommunication and computer market of Argentina, I will not only have the opportunity to visit this exhibition where the new technologies, services and solutions available for the sector are presented, but I would also like to meet Government officials, industry leaders, friends from Argentina and the Region to exchange our views for the future development of ICT in Argentina, in the region and in the entire world.

As a specialized agency of the United Nations taking care of information and communication technologies and services, the ITU has assumed the commitment of connecting the world by all means of ICT. ITU has 191 government Members and over 700 industry members. ITU’s major work covers a wide range of telecommunications and ICT : standardization of technologies and services, management of spectrum and promotion of development of telecommunication and ICT. In addition, ITU organizes TELECOM Events at global level as well as at regional level. Among our priorities, we have identified some important tasks including the use of ICTs to fight against climate change; achieve trust and security in the use of the ICTs; reduce the digital gap; facilitate use of telecommunications in all stages of disaster management.
 

I am pleased to note that the Argentine Government and the ICT industry in Argentina are very active in ITU activities.
 

Like EXPOCOMM Argentina 2008, ITU’s Telecom Events provide a global platform for different sector actors to get together. As Executive Director of ITU TELECOM, I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to participate in ITU TELECOM WORLD 2009, which will take place in the city of Geneva, from October 5 - 9, 2009 where are expected 700 exhibitors from 40 countries, 35,000-45,000 trade visitors from some 140 countries, some 1000 VIPs from 150 countries including Ministers, Regulators, Ambassadors, Directors-General, CEOs and 3,000 forum participants from around 90 countries.

I am pleased to note that in 2010, Argentina will celebrate its bicentenary. I am also pleased to inform you that ITU accepted an offer from the Argentine Government to have the ITU TELECOM Americas 2010 in Buenos Aires from 1 4 March 2010. I take this opportunity to invite all of you to participate at the ITU TELECOM AMERICAS 2010.

I would like to conclude my short remarks by conveying my sincere thanks for your invitation and my best wishes to you for the Event of ExpoComm Argentina 2008.