H.E. Mr Temate Ereateiti Kateintenang Minister, Ministry of Communications, Transport and Tourism Development On behalf of the Government of the Republic of Kiribati and my delegation, I wish to join others in congratulating you Mr. Chairman for assuming the dif-ficult but important task of leading and directing us through this conference. Secondly, I wish to express deep gratitude to the Government and the people of Mexico for the warm welcome and hospitality that we continue to enjoy in this beautiful city of Guadalajara. Mr. Chairman would like to take this opportunity to thank ITU, who has for the last few years, been assisting Kiribati in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) development especially in the capacity building, spectrum management and in the telecentre develop-ment. Through the assistance of ITU and other devel-opment partners, the Government of Kiribati was able to provide internet access to many of our high schools located on remote islands through the provision of sat-ellite dishes enabling internet connectivity. This is very important as it allows our young people to make use of ICT in their learning. This year my Government again through the assistance of ITU and other development partners, is establishing eight telecentres in remote outer islands that do not have access to basic ICT services such as telephony, Internet and email services. Mr. Chairman; Your Excellencies; Secretary General of ITU; Distinguished Delegates; Ladies and Gentlemen; The establishment of a telecentre in these remote out-er islands is a move to enhance rural connectivity and a positive step towards bridging the digital divide expe-rienced between our urban and rural islands. Being a 148