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STATEMENT BY His Highness Shaikh Abdullah Bin Khalifa Al-Thani
Prime Minister of the State of Qatar
In the Name of God
The Most Compassionate, The Most Merciful
Mr. Chairman,
Mr. Secretary-General,
Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It gives me pleasure to convey to you the greetings of
His Highness Shaikh Hamad Bin Khalifa al-Thani, The Amir of the State of
Qatar, and his wishes of success for this summit.
Mr. Chairman,
This conference is a landmark in the march of the
international community to achieve the U.N. Millennium Declaration
development goals. By stressing the value of the information society and the
means of achieving its objectives, we will work jointly to consolidate the
role of information and knowledge as a principal tributary for the progress
and prosperity of our human civilization. Our hopes in channeling the
potential of knowledge and technology to serve our communities are embedded
in the depth of the three major objectives of the U.N. Charter, namely:
development, security and human rights.
Mr. Chairman,
We confirm the State of Qatar’s commitment to the joint
world effort to build the information society, and we emphasize here today
as participating governments our commitment to fulfill our obligations to
play a leading role in developing the information and communication
technology by drawing comprehensive and long term national strategies and
follow up the implementation of such strategies.
Mr. Chairman,
His Highness Shaikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, The Amir
of the State of Qatar, has put forward a progressive vision for the State of
Qatar, where thought and creativity flourish, on the basis of political
reform and fair and sustainable economic and social development where the
citizens enjoy equal opportunities and have open scopes for achieving high
standards of living on a contemporary and modern economic base.
Guided by this vision, we are fully convinced that the
information and communications technology will contribute to realizing this
vision. That is why last year we set up the Supreme Council for
Communications and Information Technology, which is chaired by His Highness
Shaikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, The Heir Apparent of the State of Qatar.
The Council is assigned to organize the communications and information
technology sectors in the State, and draw up their respective strategies, so
as to provide the opportunity for the different categories of society to use
information and communications technology to improve their quality of life
and to effect social and economic development of the State, and raise the
community to become progressive and have a knowledge-oriented economy.
Mr. Chairman,
Implementation of the Declaration of Principles and the
Plan of Action and what we expect of the Tunis Declaration are on the
priority list of the Supreme Council for Communications and Information
Technology in the State of Qatar, particularly the role of governments, and
all those concerned, in advancing the information and communications
technology for development, the necessity of providing the infrastructure of
information and communications and build-up capabilities, concentration on
confidence building and security in the use of technology as well as the
role of regional and international cooperation in implementing the plan of
action.
Out of the creative intellectual enrichment the State of
Qatar is witnessing and the launching of the Education City with its
pioneering in the field of education world-wide, we have decided to launch
the "Q-CERT" as a regional centre concerned with all aspects of protecting
and securing information with the objective of providing the Middle East
region with the necessary measures and applications in the sphere of
electronic security and to make Qatar actively contribute to international
efforts to make the informational and technological channels more secure for
all.
Mr. Chairman,
Qatar was and still is in the heart of the international
community challenges. It had the honour to chair the Group of 77 and China
in 2004. and to host the 2nd South Summit last June. It
also hosted a number of conferences and forums concerned with freedom of
religions, human rights and dialogue.
Moreover, the State of Qatar will host in March 2006 the
International Conference on Communications Development, under the umbrella
of the International Telecommunications Union, where the necessary plans and
programs will be drawn to give a push to the march of the information
society over the next four years, hoping that that conference will be
complementary to the outcome and recommendations of this summit.
Mr. Chairman,
Mr. Secretary-General, Ladies and Gentlemen,
In conclusion, I would like to express deep thanks and
appreciation for the President, the government and people of the Republic of
Tunisia for the warm hospitality and reception accorded to us, and also
thanks to the United Nations and the International Telecommunications Union
for the good preparation and organization of this summit and securing its
success.
May the peace, the mercy and the blessings of God be upon
you.
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