Madam Chair, Ministers and Heads of Delegations, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen.

Thank you all for joining us today! And welcome to the sixth World Telecommunication/ICT Policy Forum!

While we all wish we could have met face-to-face in Geneva, I am glad that the ITU family has come together in this way to discuss over the next three days the new and emerging technologies that show so much promise for all humanity.

I am  immensely grateful for all the efforts put in by all the members of the Informal Experts Group and they did it with almost no brackets left! Under the outstanding leadership of their Chairman, Mr. Fabio Bigi, these women and men representing our entire family showed a constructive spirit of cooperation and consensus like no other.  

I am very pleased with the outputs of this group. The five draft Opinions in front of us send a clear, strong and positive message to the world that these new and emerging technologies and ICTs in general are essential to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals and address some of the world’s most pressing opportunities and challenges, from COVID-19 to the digital divide.

New data from ITU reveal strong global growth in Internet use, the largest we have seen in a decade! It is a reminder that our world is more connected than ever. And yet, the ability to connect remains profoundly unequal and almost 3 billion people are still offline.  

There is a lot more to do to get everyone connected, and to drive the development of new and emerging technologies central to the digital economy. I believe this forum and all the work that has gone into it can help put us on the path to meet this huge challenge.

I am confident in your determination and ability to rise to the moment. And I am grateful to Her Excellency the Minister for Communications and Digitalisation of Ghana, Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, for accepting to lead our discussions and serve as Chair of the Forum.

Before I leave you in her capable hands, I want to remind you that what we are doing here over the next three days will help facilitate the preparation of the three major ITU conferences that are awaiting us in the new year – so that WTSA, WTDC and PP-22 can in turn bring the benefits of digital transformation to all for years to come.

I wish you all a successful WTPF-21!

Thank you.