Abu-Ghazaleh Speaks at the ICT 4 All Forum in Tunisia and Calls for Creating Global ICT Forum

Leaders understand this time that broadband is as vital to the economy as a network of roads and highways are to traditional commerce in goods ? Abu-Ghazaleh

TUNIS - November 30, 2008, Mr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, vice-chair of the United Nations Global Alliance for ICT and Development (GAID), delivered a speech at the opening session of the ICT 4 All Forum - Tunis+ 3, which was held November 27-28, 2008 under the patronage of the Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Also attending the Forum were various ministers and officials from numerous Arab, Asian and African countries, along with members of international bodies and major global corporations active in the field of information and communication technology (ICT), in addition to experts from more than 50 African and Mediterranean countries.

The Forum aims to propel investment in fields dependent on ICT, and offer an area to exchange thoughts and expertise to develop the business environment throughout African and Mediterranean nations, as part of the implementation of decisions made at the 2nd World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) held in Tunisia in 2005.

?I see this meeting as a valuable opportunity to exchange among all of us strategies, plans and experiences with the hope of finding ways to collaborate and pool resources to promote broadband development, and to speed up and scale up efforts to meet the objectives enshrined in the WSIS and those in the Millennium Declaration,? stated Abu-Ghazaleh.

He added that broadband is revolutionizing the way people communicate, access information, and do business, saying it can be a force for change and transformation for the development of the knowledge society and towards socio-economic development and integration into the global economy.

Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh also discussed several challenges such as the need for greater financial resources for broadband development, the provision of more affordable broadband prices and others.

Further, he explained the role of decision-makers in this regard. ?Leaders understand this time that broadband is as vital to the economy as a network of roads and highways are to traditional commerce in goods. Today, the 21st century Arab leader knows that government has to play a facilitating role that provides for as near universal coverage as possible for as low a price as is possible,? he elaborated.

The GAID Vice-Chair then announced the launch of ?The Arab World Internet Institute? in Tunis, with leading Tunisian expert Mr. Khaled Koubaa elected as its president, and the convening of the Afro - Asian People?s Solidarity Organization (AAPSO) conference in Cairo January 11-12, 2009.

He concluded by calling for the establishment of a ?Global ICT Forum? institution as a focal point for the many important national forums all over the world.