Your Excellency Bassam Al-Sarhan, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Jordan’s Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, Mr. Muath S. Alrumayh, General Manager of International Affairs, Communication, Space and Technology Commission (CST), Dr Khaled Wali, Minister plenipotentiary, Director of ICTs Dept. League of Arab States (LAS), distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, it is a great pleasure and honor to welcome you to the Regional Preparatory Meeting for the Arab States in anticipation of the World Telecommunication Development Conference 2025.
I would like to thank the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Jordan for hosting this meeting and in particular, His Excellency Bassam Al-Sarhan for the kind hospitality. This is the first Regional Preparatory Meeting of the series, and having visited a number of exemplary digital development projects in Jordan in recent days, I can say this country is setting a high standard!
As you know, WTDC-25 itself will be held this November in Baku, Azerbaijan, where we will come together to discuss and adopt an action plan to bring us closer still to sustainable digital transformation and universal and meaningful connectivity.
Our task now is to identify the new Regional Initiatives to be adopted at WTDC-25 for implementation in the next cycle. This is an opportunity for the Arab States to agree and consolidate your position on all the policies to be decided at WTDC-25, because we want voices from the Arab States region to be heard and for WTDC-25 to benefit from input from all regions.
I believe we have an excellent platform on which to build. 2024 was a remarkable year for ITU across the globe. Our work has had a profound impact under the BDT4Impact vision. Our Regional Initiatives have impacted huge numbers of people and made a difference in real human lives.
Globally, we also saw the Pact for the Future, the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration on Future Generations, affirming that our common future is digital, so even as we look back on 160 years of the ITU, we know we will have an even more important role to play in the future.
For now, I am delighted with our great progress towards the implementation of the Kigali Action Plan, and this has been made possible by the broad range of stakeholders partnering with us across the world, as documented in the State of Digital Development and Trends report launched at yesterday's Regional Development Forum.
The Arab region in particular has made important achievements in the ICT sector in the past three years, and I am proud of the key role ITU has played, including in promoting digital transformation in the region’s least developed countries.
Here in Jordan, we provided Training of Trainers to equip the coming generations with the skills they need for a digital future, and, in partnership with UNESCWA, we have also helped the country prepare for the immersive technologies that will shape that future.
We also helped Djibouti, Comoros, Iraq and Somalia to develop and implement life-saving National Emergency Telecommunications Plans, and enabled Mauritania, Djibouti and Somalia to build capacity and pilot digital government solutions that will transform lives.
Our Accessible Arab Region event in Morocco helped enhance understanding of digital inclusion strategies and our workshop in Qatar on Universal and Meaningful Connectivity was a step towards improving data collection throughout the region, both ensuring digital transformation really will benefit everyone.
Our Arab Innovation and Entrepreneurship Network is providing entrepreneurs with opportunities to expand into other countries, and our Digital Innovation Profiles for Oman, Bahrain and Qatar, as well as Jordan, will enable strategic intervention to improve those countries’ digital ecosystems.
We also held cyber response trainings and CyberDrills, and during the Regional Cybersecurity Week in the UAE, no fewer than five Guinness World Records were achieved!
Distinguished participants, all this is just a snapshot. A number of detailed contributions have been submitted for your consideration and input during this Regional Preparatory Meeting, and I look forward to your inputs.
Yesterday’s Regional Development Forum was already extremely enlightening and encouraging, and I know this meeting will build on that success with an eye to WTDC-25, and before that, of course, to the Inter-Regional Meetings scheduled for July and September. We also look forward to the Accessible Arab Region event here in Jordan in April.
Let us not forget that all our work leads to real and lasting change in people’s lives, advancing sustainable digital transformation through inclusive and impactful digital development interventions, so it is my pleasure to open our meeting.
Thank you!
