STATEMENT BY H.E.
MR. LYONPO LEKI DORJI
MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS
BHUTAN
Mr. President, Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen:
Rapid advances in science and technology
have ensured that today, the world, like the Internet, is
more interconnected and interdependent than ever before.
Bhutan believes that genuine partnerships and cooperation
between governments and other stakeholders including the
private sector, civil society, and international
organizations are essential towards realizing a people
centered, inclusive and development-oriented Information
Society.
In this regard, I wish to reaffirm my
Government's firm commitment to the Geneva Declaration of
Principles and Plan of Action, adopted during the First
Phase of WSIS in 2003.
Mr. President
In Bhutan, enabling individual citizen's
pursuit of happiness has long been the singular and explicit
objective of public policy and governance. Guided by His
Majesty the King Jigme Singye Wangchuck's noble vision of
Gross National Happiness, Bhutan remains committed to
pursuing equitable, balanced, and people-centered
development. Harnessing ICTs to achieve this goal in order
to bring the benefits of development to each and every
Bhutanese remains one of our priorities, as well as a
daunting challenge.
It is an enormous challenge to build
information infrastructure in Bhutan's rugged mountain
terrains with scattered settlements. I join other speakers
in underlining that for many developing countries with
limited resources, the issues of access to information
technology, as well as critical infrastructure needs and
content development, constrain our full engagement in
Information Society. Bhutan, therefore, attaches great
importance to Financial Mechanisms, including initiatives
that would create favourable conditions for developing
countries, particularly LDCs. We urge all stakeholders to
support these efforts actively. Expanding ICT access in
developing countries, particularly LDCs, takes on the
character of a global public good, enhancing the value of
global information networks and benefiting everyone
including developed countries. We recognize these as
representing part of the answers to what the Secretary
General has called "Summit of Solutions."
Mr. President
Bhutan is convinced that -- as stated in
the Geneva Declaration of Principles of the First Phase of
WSIS, and embodied in the Tunis outcome documents we have
before us, diversity of content and access in the local
language are essential in order for all Bhutanese to tap
into and benefit from the wealth of knowledge and resources
available today electronically. My government therefore
continues its efforts towards ensuring that the Information
Society in Bhutan will be as inclusive as possible,
transforming today's digital divide into tomorrow's digital
opportunities.
Bhutan welcomes the work of the
preparatory process of WSIS on the establishment of the
Internet Governance Forum. We firmly believe that the
governance of the Internet should be democratic,
transparent, and inclusive, allowing all governments and
other stakeholders to contribute to its management.
Before I conclude, I wish to express my
appreciation to the Government of Tunisia for the warm
hospitality extended to my delegation.
Thank you and Tashi Delek!
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