Geneva, 26 February 2009 — ITU TELECOM WORLD 2009, which will take place in Geneva, 5-9 October, will include a global leadership summit to address the role of ICTs in economic recovery from the worldwide crisis and stimulating future investment and growth. The ITU TELECOM Board of Directors, which met in Barcelona last week, gave their full support to ITU to play a catalysing role in shaping the agenda for global economic recovery and development. The Board, which includes key industry leaders, emphasized the role of the digital economy in reviving the broader global economy. Expressing their confidence in ITU for steering ITU TELECOM WORLD 2009 in the right direction, the Directors also agreed that ITU TELECOM WORLD should be held in Geneva in 2011 to mark its 40th anniversary.
ITU TELECOM WORLD 2009 — the leading global ICT showcase — will bring together Heads of State, Ministers, industry leaders and Regulators for the high-level summit, cutting-edge Forum and a dynamic exhibition. Such a high-level gathering from across governments and industry will create a unique public-private networking platform on a global scale to brainstorm strategies aimed at paving the way to economic recovery and development.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has confirmed he will attend TELECOM WORLD. “It is vital that we use opportunities such as ITU TELECOM WORLD 2009 for a frank debate on the way forward for the ICT industry that will translate challenges into real and workable solutions,” Mr Ban said. “Information and communication technologies are increasingly critical for global development and human well-being. We must not allow today’s economic downturn to slow progress in providing widespread access to these essential tools.”
ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré said, “ITU TELECOM WORLD 2009 this October will be the right time to bring together all the key players in government and the ICT industry. We will be in a better position to assess the effects on industry and establish both how to resuscitate those sectors that need it as well as to focus on how ICTs can be a catalyst for recovery. The ICT sector has been the powerhouse of the global economy in terms of GDP. Investment in ICTs makes as much sense now as it did in building the physical infrastructure of roads and railways during the great depression of the 1930s.”
The ITU TELECOM Board of Directors includes chairmen and CEOs from entities such as Bharti Enterprises, China Mobile, CNBC Europe, GSMA Association, Hutchison Telecommunications, Novare Technologies, NTT DoCoMo, Orange UK, Orascom, QTel, the South African Development Bank, Swisscom, and the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA).
ITU TELECOM WORLD 2009 is a global event within the ICT industry:
- The exhibition encompasses the full reach of the ICT industry
- It benefits from ITU’s unique drawing power and track record in convening leaders from across the entire ICT sector and political spectrum
- The VIP programme builds a global community of the world’s most outstanding industry leaders and decision-makers from stakeholders around the world aimed at social networking, fostering new partnerships and seeking practical solutions and responses to rebuild the economy
- The VVIP programme provides a platform for Heads of State/Government, Ministers and CEOs to discuss the issues on the challenges and visions of ICT development
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