ITU Secretary General to visit Sri Lanka

The Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Dr. Hamadoun I Toure will be in Sri Lanka from September 6 to 8, 2008. This is the first visit of Dr. Toure as the Secretary General of ITU to Sri Lanka. He will be here on an invitation extended to him by the President. This visit has been facilitated by Priyantha Kariyapperuma, Director General Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL).

During his visit Dr. Toure will grace the GSM Association (GSMA) Asia Pacific Conference which will be held in Sri Lanka as a Special Guest of Honour. Sri Lanka holds the current Chairmanship of the GSMA.

Dr. Toure will meet President Mahinda Rajapaksa to discuss the development of ICT in Sri Lanka. The Secretary General has commended the development of the telecommunications industry in Sri Lanka, especially the initiatives in the ICT sector under the leadership of the President. This is one of the reasons which prompted him to accept the invitation to come to Sri Lanka.

A ceremony will be held at the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission in honour of the visiting Secretary General where the staff of TRCSL will meet him. TRCSL will work closely with ITU in its endeavour to develop the telecommunications sector and also facilitate the launch of Sri Lanka's first satellite in honour of the late Sir Arthur C Clarke.Dr. Hamadoun Toure assumed duties as Secretary General on January 1, 2007. Prior to that he served as Director Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) of ITU from 1998 until 2006.

Dr. Toure is committed to make ITU an innovative, forward looking organisation adapted to meeting the challenges created by the new ICT environment and to spearhead the Union towards implementing the resolutions of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). As Director BDT from 1999 until 2006, he played a significant role in the WSIS process by launching numerous projects based on partnership building with International Organisations, Government, Civil Society and the Private Sector.

ITU is the leading United Nations agency for information and communication technologies. As the global focal point for Governments and the private sector, ITU's role in helping the world communicate spans 3 core sectors: radiocommunication, standardisation and development.

ITU is based in Geneva, Switzerland and its membership includes 191 member States and more than 700 sector members and associates.

The Director General TRCSL Priyantha Kariyapperuma expressed that the visit of the Secretary General will further strengthen the long standing relationship between ITU and Sri Lanka.