TRINIDAD & TOBAGO

STATEMENT BY Ms Gillian MACINTYRE
Deputy Permanent Secretary

Mr. Chairman,
Secretary General of the ITU,
Distinguished Delegates,
Friends

May I start by congratulating you on your appointment as Chairman of the International Telecommunication Union’s 2006 Plenipotentiary Conference. I am indeed honoured to address this distinguished audience.

Trinidad and Tobago is confident that under your wise and able guidance the ITU will be able to successfully surmount two of the biggest challenges of its long and venerable history. I refer here to our Union’s current financial situation and the need for an international agency to oversee the key recommendations emanating from the WSIS sensitive to the convergence that is occurring in the ICT Sector.

We recognize that significant benefits can be derived through the use of ICT, the new currency for socio-economic growth, particularly for developing countries, including small island states. As a result, Vision 2020, Trinidad and Tobago’s national development strategy incorporates ICT as a critical tool for transforming our nation into a knowledge based society.

This objective requires, at a minimum, careful management of our limited resources; continuous dialogue between stakeholders, human capacity building, and, certainly, the integration of ICTs into all aspects of our national development landscape.

In this regard, Trinidad and Tobago devised its national ICT Strategy, which we have branded fastforward. It is a comprehensive strategy designed, among other things, to:

• Provide all citizens with affordable Internet access;

• Foster the incorporation of ICT in enterprises;

• Develop ICT skills in all citizens;

• Foster citizen trust by incorporating ICT, as an enabling tool for good governance; and

• Maximize the potential within all citizens and accelerate innovation to develop a knowledge-based society

In support of these strategic goals, Trinidad and Tobago has initiated a wide variety of actions, including:

• Opening its telecommunications sector to full competition in 2005

• Establishing a Government wide Communications Backbone to improve communication and services, which would be complemented with the launch of an e-Government Portal

• Launching a B2B portal for Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

• Establishing a national network of Community Access Centres and a National Broadband policy and strategy

• Establishing the University of Trinidad and Tobago and implementing SchoolNet and Campus Net, programmes designed to connect schools and training institutions.

Mr. Chairman,

As a Small Island Developing State, Trinidad and Tobago is fully aware of the global nature of the ICT development challenge. Indeed, in July of this year our Prime Minister, the Honorable Patrick Manning, along with other Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), acknowledged the potential threat of social exclusion posed by the Digital Divide and the real presence of a “digital hole” in the Caribbean. We are committed to the elimination of this digital hole. To this end, I would mention three important initiatives:

• The Caribbean Single Market and Economy, which represents a move to deepen cooperation among Caribbean countries.

• Connectivity for the Caribbean and Latin America (Red CLARA), an element of which is the Caribbean Knowledge Learning Network (CKLN) which will link tertiary education institutions across the Caribbean via a broadband network.

• The Disaster Preparation Initiative, which is extremely important to us recognising our vulnerability and is one of the ITU’s regional initiatives.
  

Trinidad and Tobago is of the firm view that ICT development issues are cross-cutting, and can only be successfully addressed through collaboration with all stakeholders. We therefore reaffirm our commitment to work with the ITU and all countries and stakeholders. For this reason, we welcome your support for our candidacy to Council.

In closing, I would like to commend the Government and people of Turkey for the warm hospitality extended to delegates. The logistics have been executed with precision. We congratulate Turkey for the excellent arrangements, which will ensure a successful conclusion of these proceedings.

Mr. Chairman, I thank you.