UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

STATEMENT BY H.E. H. E. Sultan Saeed Al Mansouri
Minister of Development of the Governmental Sector

Excellencies
Honorable Members

On behalf of the United Arab Emirates, I would like to express my sincere thanks to the Republic of Turkey for hosting this conference and for their great kindness and hospitality. Also, I would like to thank the International Telecommunication Union for organizing this conference and I wish you all a successful conference.

Let me begin by saying that the United Arab Emirates believes in an open and pro-business economic environment. Our growth and continued success is heavily dependent on embracing the global community. To this end, the UAE has put into place best international practices, and we are learning from other countries as they managed their own growth. Furthermore, the UAE invests heavily in developing industries such as the telecommunication and information technologies industry.

Recognizing the importance of the role of this sector to improve economic and social growth, the UAE has achieved remarkable success in the field of telecommunication and information technologies.

This success is evidenced in several areas. For example, the mobile penetration rate in the UAE has recently exceeded 125 percent. Also, internet services penetration is approximately 60 percent and broadband usage is on the rise. Additionally, the fixed network is available country-wide and already, the next generation network is being deployed.

Moreover, the UAE has undertaken the first steps towards liberalizing its telecommunication market through the introduction of competition, which is supported by a best practice regulatory framework.

Furthermore, the recent establishment of an Information Communication Technologies Fund is one of the significant steps the UAE has taken in order to facilitate an innovative environment and to encourage research in the |ICT industry.

Honorable members

The UAE has announced that it will increase its class unit in the ITU by three times, in recognition of the important role of the International Telecommunication Union, and also to support the activities of the ITU’s strategic plan.

The UAE firmly supports the important role of the ITU, and the UAE will actively pursue all efforts possible to minimize the digital divide between nations. The UAE strongly believes in and will actively support the ITU’s strategic plans.

In this regard, the UAE is hosting the Global Symposium for Regulators in Dubai early next year. This event will focus on the complicated issues concerning Next Generation Networks. Additionally, the UAE is sponsoring the Youth Forum to be held next month at the ITU World Telecom Exhibition in Hong Kong. Furthermore, the UAE has adopted the WSIS action lines in both phases.

In order to contribute further to the ITU’s strategic goals, the UAE announces it candidacy to the ITU council.

Honorable members

In closing, I would like to wish you a successful conference bearing fruitful results.

Thank you for your attention.