Wednesday, 6 October Republic of Kiribati country made up of small coral atoll islands dispersed over a large area of sea water we cannot undermine the importance of effective and reliable communica-tions and in this regard I wish to acknowledge the con-tribution of ITU toward these projects. Mr. Chairman In our effort to support ICT initiatives and develop-ments nationally, regionally and internationally, Kiribati participated in the recent Pacific Regional ICT Ministers meeting in Tonga and endorsed the Framework for ICT Development on ICT for Development in the Pacific. This framework identifies 5 year strategies for the Pacific region and emphasizes the importance of a coordinated approach. As small island nations in the Pacific, we would urge ITU to work collaboratively with the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) in im-plementing this important framework for our region. Kiribati is also involved in the Pacific Computer Emergency Response Team initiative endorsed by Pacific Ministers in the Tonga meeting. Kiribati repre-sents the Micronesian countries in this initiative and again would like to request ITU to support this region-al initiative. Mr. Chairman In ending I would like to reiterate my sincere appre-ciation to ITU and the Government of Mexico for the manner they have organized this conference. I wish this conference great success in all its deliberations. Thank You 149