His Excellency Mr Carlos Agostinho do Rosário, Prime Minister of the Republic of Mozambique
His Excellency Mr Carlos Mesquita, Minister of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Mozambique
Good morning everyone. Mr. Chairman thank you for your kind words.
And thanks to my good friend Secretary-General, Shola Taylor for giving me an opportunity to be with all of you here today. It means a lot to me. Not just because it reminds me of my days as the UK representative on the CTO Council, but because I strongly believe that consensus building in the Commonwealth is a good basis for consensus building in ITU.
I am pleased to bring you greetings from the ITU Secretary-General, Houlin Zhao and all my fellow elected officials.
Commonwealth countries are key players in four of the six ITU regions. ITU and the CTO have a long history, common objectives and common membership. That’s why at the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in 2002 I started the Commonwealth coordination for ITU conferences, with the establishment of the Commonwealth ITU Group. It proved to be very effective, both in helping Commonwealth countries achieve their objectives and to help reach the consensus that is necessary for a successful conclusion to an ITU world conference.
And we have major conferences coming up with the World Telecommunication Development Conference in Buenos Aires in a few weeks, and this time next year the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Dubai. The countdown to PP-18 has already begun, and this Forum and the CTO Council later this week is an opportunity to kick off some of the Commonwealth preparatory work.
With the new Strategic Plan, the CTO is showing the way, and I was very pleased to see that ensuring effective coordination of Commonwealth countries at international ICT conferences and meetings is included in the plan, and that Commonwealth ICT ministers are determined to use ICTs, not just to support but to lead their national development agenda in key areas.
This was illustrated at this year’s meeting of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development that took place at the UN, in New York in July. This platform has a central role in the follow-up and review of progress on the Sustainable Development Agenda at the global level. All the Commonwealth countries that presented their Voluntary National Reviews explicitly pointed out the importance and application of ICTs in achieving the SDGs . The central theme was access – with the need to reach people living in remote regions, and reduce differences between communities in urban and rural areas. Reference was also made to issues related to digital literacy , e-commerce , digital entrepreneurship , gender and financial inclusion – just to name a few.
Not only does it demonstrate how ICTs now cut across so many different issues, but also that countries increasingly rely on ICTs to accelerate the implementation of the SDGs.
And that’s an important lesson to remember as we approach the start of this year’s WTDC, the theme of which is “ICT for Sustainable Development Goals”. A theme very close to this Forum’s theme: “Digital Nations, Digital Wealth”. The two are intertwined. As we look ahead to WTDC-17 and PP-18, let’s remember that our wealth is our people.
With a population of over two billion, of which 60% are under the age of 30, Commonwealth countries present a unique opportunity for the CTO to play a leading role in the development and use of ICTs for socio-economic development. At ITU, we very much look forward to working with you to achieve this, to bring the power of ICTs to all nations, all people and all segments of society.
So, let me add my welcome to you. I wish you all a very enjoyable CTO Forum, and also a very successful CTO Council later in the week.
Thank you.