Policy Statement
Thailand

Mr. Chairman,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great honour for me to address this eighteenth Plenipotentiary Conference of the ITU on behalf of the Royal Thai Government. I would like to, first of all, congratulate you, Mr. Chairman, on your election to the Chair. Under your capable chairmanship, I am confident that this Conference will proceed to a successful conclusion.  I also wish to convey my profound gratitude to the Government of Mexico for hosting this Conference and for the warm hospitality extended to all of us. And Thailand Team is excited to be here to celebrate 200 years of Independence of Mexico.

As a long-standing Member State of the ITU for 127 years, Thailand has always attached great importance to our participation in the Plenipotentiary Conference. We are conscious that through the deliberations and decisions taken during the Conference, the future role of the ITU will be established and the foundation laid for the work of the Union for the next four years.

In recognition of ITU’s pivotal role in bringing about global telecom and ICT development, Thailand pledges our full support for ITU activities in all the three sectors. Our dedication to contribute to the fulfillment of the mandate of the Union are demonstrated by our involvement in several ITU initiatives and our cooperation in organizing important events such as ITU Telecom Asia and the Global Symposium for Regulators and Global Industry Leaders Forum 2008. In the area of human capacity building, we offered to host the business management node under the framework of ITU Asia-Pacific Centres of Excellence.

Mr. Chairman,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Please allow me to turn to another matter of great importance on the agenda of this Conference - the election of ITU Council members. I wish to take this opportunity to gently remind you that Thailand is standing for re-election to the Council. We would like to reiterate our commitment to respond to the needs and aspirations of the entire Membership of the Union.

From our experience as a Council member during the last four years, we have learnt that the ITU is suffering from budgetary constraints that have been affecting the implementation of projects and programmes within the mandate of the Union for quite some time. In light of this awareness, Thailand envisions that if we are to improve the performance of the ITU in consistence with its core competencies, there is a need for us to treat a number of issues that impede a smooth functioning of the Union. Some of the ongoing challenges include:

1. Revision of the Union’s strategic plan.
2. Adequate financial and human resource allocation for ITU Regional Offices.
3. Resource optimization and coordination between the three sectors.

It is our view that these issues should be settled through agreement and consensus. We are looking forward to taking part in the process of consensus building for the utmost benefits of all ITU members and hope that our fellow Member Administrations will support us in our bid for a seat on the Council.

In closing, I wish all of you, distinguished delegates, the courage to assure that this Conference will achieve its goals and objectives. I firmly believe that our deliberations over the next three weeks will result in productive conclusion. 

Thank you very much for your attention.