Ban Ki-moon Meets Abu-Ghazaleh in New York

Ban Ki-moon Meets Abu-Ghazaleh in New York

UN Secretary-General accepts Honorary Presidency of the UN Global Alliance for ICT and Development (GAID)

NEW YORK --- February 14, 2010 --- Mr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, chairman of the UN Global Alliance for ICT and Development (GAID) met the UN Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-moon on February 12, 2010 at the UN Headquarters in New York.

Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh presented GAID?s 2010 plan and mechanisms to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through the use of ICT for a sustainable development on an international level and in the developing countries in particular.

Meanwhile, Mr. Ban Ki-moon stressed on the importance of preparing the Matrix through the use of ICT project to achieve the Millennium Development Goals which were set during the World Summit in 2000 and called for in the eighth Millennium Development Goal pointing out that this is the year of development.

On the other hand, Mr. Ban Ki-moon accepted Mr. Abu-Ghazalehs request to become the Honorary President of the UN Global Alliance for ICT and Development (GAID) and also the ICT project for the Millennium Development Goals.

Mr. Ban Ki-moon acceptance to become GAID Honorary President is considered an important support to the Alliance and the Matrix project.

Mr. Ban Ki-moon asked Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh to prepare the working plan in July and a report to be presented during the coming World Summit to be held in September 2010.

At the end of the meeting, Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh thanked Mr. Ban Ki-moon for his confidence and support.

GAID was established by the UN Secretary General in March 2006, to meet the need for an inclusive, multi-stakeholder global forum and platform for policy dialogue and partnership building, to promote the use of ICT for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and to enable and catalyze multi-stakeholder partnerships for action under the GAID umbrella.

Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh, chairman and CEO of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAG-Org), has been appointed as the Chairman of the Global Alliance for ICT and Development of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA-GAID) to succeed Craig Baret, Intel CEO.
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