Mrs Bärbel VOGEL-MIDDELDORF Deputy Director-General, Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology My delegation and I have already had the opportunity to enjoy your hospitality in the past days, for instance at the reception by the Mexican government! Thank you so much for that! Germany is one of the founding members of the ITU and as such has contributed to shaping the organisa-tion since its inception. Solving complex technical is-sues, balancing political interests and international soli-darity have always been the core objectives of the ITU. Even today, in an entirely different environment, these targets are still valid. During the first years of the ITU until a bit more than 10 years ago, telecommunications was exclusively a government matter in nearly all countries. Today, how-ever, telecommunication networks and services are mainly offered by private companies. Of course, these changes in the division of labour be-tween governments and companies have had an im-pact on intergovernmental organisations like the ITU. Mr. Chairman, Excellencies, While in the past, governments were able to deter-mine operational demands and standards and, conse-quently, Ladies and Gentlemen, First of all, please allow me to congratulate you - Mr. Chairman - on your election as chair of the could decide on the introduction of new services, today it is the companies which take these decisions. In this changed environment, the new role of govern-ments and thus of the ITU is no longer to focus on op-erational issues but to create framework conditions. In ITU Plenipotentiary Conference. I am convinced that - under your competent chairmanship - we will achieve the objectives of this conference successfully and efficiently. addition, there is a large number of private and gov-ernmental organisations which work on specific tele-communications issues. Therefore, it is not enough for governments to be engaged in intergovernmental or-ganisations I am particularly grateful to the Mexican government for taking on the task of organising this important conference. like the ITU. In order to appropriately rep-resent their interests, they must also work with private sector-led organisations. 102