Opening speech of the Prime Minister, Head of Government at the 45 th Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) Council

Yaounde, 5 September 2005

 

Your Excellency the Prime Minister,

Your Excellency the Vice-Prime. Minister,

Your Excellencies the Ministers of State

Your Excellencies the Members of Govemment,

The Members of the Diplomatie corps and the representatives of international organisations,

Honourable Deputy Secretary General of the Commonwealth,

Honourable Chairman of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation,

The Chief Executive officer of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation,

Honourable delegates,

Members of the Civil Society and the private sector,

Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great honour and privilege for Cameroon to host the 45 th session of the council of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO), holding here in Yaounde , and I am particularly honoured to preside over the opening ceremony.

On this solemn occasion, the President of the Republic of Cameroon , His Excellency Paul BIYA, together with the people of Cameroon , heartily and warmly welcome each of you to Yaounddé, our capital city.

The commonwealth is characterised by a rich diversity of cultures, multifaceted objectives, and a unified purpose.

Ten years ago, at the summit of Heads of States and Governments held in Oakland-New Zeeland in November 1995, Cameroon gained admission into this prestigious organisation. As such, your choice of Yaounde to host this conference is a great significance to the people of Cameroon .

Deliberations during this session will prepare the ground for two high level summits scheduled next November 2005: in Tunis for the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS); and in Matta for the summit of Heads of State and Governments (CHOGM).

The outcome of this meeting will in a significant manner contribute to the relentless efforts of the international community towards achieving the millennium goals in the telecommunications sector.

Information and Communications Technology is a powerful strategic tool for bringing people together without cultural alienation. As the core of what is commonly known as the information superhighway, this new technology has minimized the hindrance of distance thus enhancing the exchange of values, the enrichment of cultures and the promotion of economic development.

Unfortunately, this very useful technology has not been sufficiently vulgarised, causing an imbalance currently referred to in the i nternational community as the digital divide.

It is most gratifying to notice that the CTO has put in place a program aimed at making this technology accessible to the majority of our people, especially those of the Commonwealth of Nations .

Your deliberations will certainly have as major focus, the evaluation of this objective and to fine tune your strategy for maximum achievement.

But it is clear that for some members, the digital divide is widening, especially between the industrialised and the developing nations. To breach this gap is a major focus of your meeting today.

The great challenge is not only to make that technology available, but also to enable citizens to access the wide spectrum of services offered by this technology. The theme of this session is " Business and Development Challenges to Access ". ln the context of the digital divide therefore, the quest is to develop network paradigms, identify financing schemes and build capacities to enable the provision of services at reasonable and affordable cost for the urban as weIl as the rural population.

 

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

ln. Cameroon, the development and implementation of a telecommunications and ICTS sector strategy was inspired by the various multilateral plans of action amongst which figures prominently that of the CTO. ln this context, Cameroon has launched an extensive and profound sector reform. Today, governments policy is to separate the regulatory from the operational functions, characterised by a liberalised market in which the civil society and private sector are very active. Besides the Telecommunications Regulatory Board which represents Cameroon in the CTO, there are two cellular operators, a fixed network operator and numerous internet service providers (ISP).

Within this framework, the sector plan initiated by the President of the Republic, His Excellency President Paul BIYA, is currently pursued by the Government along the following lines:

• Liberation of public access to Telecommunications and ICTS services. This line of action is executed through a massive programme involving the creation of school Multimedia Resource Centers on one hand, and on the other hand, connecting rural areas by Multipurpose Community Telecenters operated on private basis.
• Building a national broad bandwidth backbone network: Kribi-Doba and Yaounde-Douala which will be linked to the submarine cable SAT3.
• Privatizing the fixed network operator and granting a licence to a third mobile operator are in the pipeline.

It is hoped that these actions will help set up a favourable environment for the creation of sustainable and innovative development initiatives which will contribute in poverty :alleviation in accordance with the goals and objectives of our Poverty Reduction Strategy. As an ongoing effort which we believe is also pursued in other developing member countries of our institution, the assistance of the CTO, amongst other multilateral organizations, will evidently be required.

 

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

The widening gap of the digital device is the main challenge which has to be addressed. The available results give us every reason to hope that your deliberations, conclusions and recommendations, together with the programme of action you would put in place, will enable us consolidate present achievements and take further strides in the construction of the Information Communications Technology Society .

May I, at this juncture, assure you of the determination of the Government of Cameroon, to contribute towards achieving the desired common objectives of this meeting. Although during the days ahead you will be fully taken up by your discussions as it is evident in the programme of activities, I recommend that you find time out of your busy schedule to discover the different facets of Yaounde , its seven hills and other less visible attractions, and why not discover Cameroon .

Une fois de plus, Excellences Mesdames et Messieurs, je vous souhaite plein succès dans vos travaux ainsi qu'un agréable séjour au Cameroun.

Long live the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation,

Long l ive the Commonwealth Community of Nations.

Thank you for your kind attention.