H.E. Mr Amirzai SANGIN Minister, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) With the adoption of a Telecom & ICT policy based on best global practices, creation of suitable legal frame-work, transparent mechanism for issuing of licenses and the establishing of a strong regulator, in the years since the last plenipotentiary, Afghanistan has expe-rienced strong growth in the economy and in the ICT sector. The success of the ICT sector in Afghanistan has ex-ceeded expectations. 5 national and 1 regional opera-tor, in addition to scores of internet providers, compete strongly in our telecom market, leading to new serv-ices, improved quality and coverage and significantly reduced prices. Mobile money and other advanced ap-plications are rapidly spreading in the country. In the coming year, new licenses will be tendered for Wimax and 3G services. We will further liberalize the market and start the process of privatizing the state owned carrier. Since the 2006 Plenipotentiary Conference, foreign direct investment in the Afghan telecom sector has more than doubled, and now stands at 1.5B$. The sec-tor contributes over 12% of the entire revenue stream of the government and provides jobs to more than 100,000 people. Telecommunications networks now cover over 80% of the population, and we expect to reach the 95% coverage in the next 4 years. Through new satellite-based projects and universal access pro-grams, Honorable Chairman; Excellencies, Respected Delegates; Ladies and Gentlemen; On behalf of the Government of Afghanistan, I would like to thank the Mexican Authorities for the gracious hosting of this year’s ITU Plenipotentiary conference. My thanks also go to the ITU officials for the excellent arrangements they have made for this important summit. we are extending services to the rural commu-nities of Afghanistan. The phone user installed base has increased more than sevenfold, as penetration now surpasses 50% with 15 million users. For Internet, we estimate two million users over a subscriber base of 700,000. Prices for internet band-width are rapidly falling with increased cross-border 182