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Thank you, Sarah. Secretary-General Toure, Minister Choi and Mayor Suh, it is a pleasure to be here with you on the opening day of the 19th ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Busan, Republic of Korea.
We had a very exciting Opening Ceremony this morning, and I strongly believe the words of encouragement expressed by the speakers have set the stage for a very productive Conference. As has already been said by Minister Choi, the ITU has played a critical role in guiding the development and application of the information and communications technologies that are shaping our world today. At this Conference we will have the opportunity to celebrate 150 years of ITU achievements that have helped to provide the unprecedented level of global connectivity we enjoy today. At the same time, Member States will also have the opportunity to position the ITU to make important contributions to the global development agenda beyond 2015. The ITU’s contributions to the Post-2015 Development Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals will be based on the productive outcomes of PP-14. The work of Member States to produce such outcomes began well before today, through a series of regional preparatory meetings. Based on the discussions in these meetings Member States have submitted the proposals that will be discussed at this Conference. These proposals cover many important topics, including strengthening accessibility to broadband and ICTs, enhancing multi-stakeholder participation in the activities of the ITU, setting the ITU’s strategic and financial plans, as well as satellite flight tracking, cybersecurity, emergency communications, Internet-related public policy issues, and ICT gender-mainstreaming to note but a few. In addition, the Conference will also elect the ITU’s leadership for the next 4 years. With a heavy agenda before us, all participants will need to work together in full cooperation and with a commitment to the ITU’s longstanding tradition of consensus-building in order to deliver a successful Conference. Member States’ have demonstrated their commitment to consensus and cooperation throughout the preparatory process, so I am very confident that we will all work toward a productive PP-14. Of course, we would not be in a position to deliver a successful Conference, if not for the hard work of the ITU Secretariat, the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, and the City of Busan , which have made every effort to make PP-14 one of the most successful conferences that Korea has ever hosted. The Conference will welcome participants from some 175 ITU Member States, Sector Members and observer organizations, including over 104 Ministers, 35 Deputy Ministers, and 67 ambassadors. In total, over 3,000 delegates are registered to participate in the conference. These delegates will also be able to enjoy many of the side events that have been organized by the Korean Government, the City of Busan and other organizations. I know that Mayor Suh has more to say about the great events that Busan has planned so I will end here. We are off to a great start to PP-14, and I look forward to a great next 3 weeks. Thank you.
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