Dear Mr. Chairman
I would like to use this opportunity to congratulate the Secretary General Elect Mr.Houlin Zhao and wish him all the success in his upcoming term. Also would like to congratulate the Under Sec General elect, Mr. Malcom Johnson, as well as the 3 directors.
I would like to thank the Republic of Korea for hosting this year's Plenipotentiary Meeting of ITU. This is a huge commitment we truly appreciated it, and I must say that you have done incredible job so far.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The Republic of Macedonia has been committed to the ITU for many years, and has been very active in the last 8 years where we have contributed and followed the recommendations, the standards, the policies that have come out of all forums.
With the ICT strategy that Macedonia had setup in 2007 we were able to revolutionize the ICT sector, and our Information Society in general. From computers for every pupil in the schools, Broadband connectivity to each school, free Broadband Wi-Fi in 680 rural areas, to fully liberalized telecommunication sector, to analog-digital overnight TV switch off and releasing the Digital Dividend in 2013 while issuing a 4G license for all mobile operators on 700Mhz spectrum. We already have two mobile operators that provide 4G on 800Mhz and the third one to follow by the end of this year.
For the upcoming four years we a very diverse action plan to create a Digital Sustainable Economy for Macedonia with two strategies; one which is Short term strategy to 2017 and one which is long term for 2020. Broadband Internet is in the heart to do so.
Dear colleagues,
The Republic of Macedonia last month hosted the first Ministerial Balkan Regional Forum on Internet Governance, where the majority of Balkan countries had the opportunities to exchange their views on the Internet Governance. It was a unique opportunity to discuss the challenges that are ahead of us on this important topic. Unfortunately, the actions of the human kind in the history has created the term "Balkanization" a term that is usually associated with FREGMENTATION. We would like to change that association and give it a positive connotation. That is why At the end of the conference we proposed that the Balkan countries will sign a Declaration on Internet Governance where it shows that when it comes to the Internet Governance, the Balkan countries are united and we ALL support the multistate holder model on Internet Governance and we would like to invite other regions to follow us.
In my conclusion,
I would like to share the commitment of the Republic of Macedonia to the ITU, and our commitment to creating the multy istakeholder model for Internet Governance.
Mr Chairman, on behalf of the Government of Republic of Macedonia, I would like to assure you of our strong support to ensure the success of the Union and this Plenipotentiary Conference.
At the end I would like to thank my dear friend, my vice-chair of the Braodband Commission and the Sec Gen of ITU Dr. Hamadoun Toure for his personal support to me and the support that he gave to my country Macedonia. I wish him all the best in his future endeavor.
I know that he has offered inn few occasions that he can be a good driver, well my dear friend Hamadoun I would like to offer you to consider to be my driver, because with your leadership and your vision I am confiden you will ONLY take me to the right destination.
Thank you for the time and wish everybody good luck in he ITU council election.
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