Thursday, 7 October Botswana Mr. Chairman, I have already alluded to the great ben-efits and give consumers a wider choice of services at an af-fordable we have enjoyed thus far from the ITU, we are price. however faced with some challenges that we believe the ITU can play a pivotal role in assisting us overcome them. In particular, the formulation of a broadband strategy, combating of cybercrime and cyberthreat, and capacity building in the communications sector re-main Mr. Chairman, Botswana would not be where she is, were it not for the invaluable support she continues to receive from international bodies like the International Telecommunication Union and the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation. In addition, the re-gional a challenge. It is in this regard that we are looking forward to the resolutions of this august gathering. body such as the Communications Regulators In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, we would like to once more thank our hosts and you for your able leadership in this Conference. Association of Southern Africa (CRASA) formally the Telecommunications Regulators Association of Southern Africa (TRASA) played a pivotal role in shap-ing I thank you. the telecommunications sector in Botswana and Southern Africa at large. It is against this background that Botswana fully supports the ITU and other tele-communication regional bodies in their endeavour to bridge the digital divide, and have the world’s popula-tion connected. Botswana is fully aware that the road towards connecting the world’s population is not an easy one, but the global coordination and cooperation in this exercise will finally achieve the desired goals. Botswana has initiated a programme on provision of e-government services. However, the cost of internet has remained a prohibitive hurdle that has led to many of our people not having access to the internet. In an endeavour to address this, Botswana government has invested in the undersea cables initiatives namely East Africa Submarine Cable System and the West Africa Cable System. Mr, Chairman, we are glad that the EASSy project is now ready for service and it is hoped in due course this will go a long way in alleviating the cost of internet to all communication users in the country. 193