Indonesia, along with 12 other countries, namely Australia, China, India, Iran, Japan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, and the United Arab Emirates, are elected to represent Region E (Asia and Australasia) as members of the ITU Council for the period of 2018-2022. Indonesia received the highest vote in the Region E, according to a statement from Foreign Ministry here on Tuesday.
Indonesia`s re-election as member of the ITU Council is the evidence of trust from the global community towards Indonesia`s current active role in ICT.
Furthermore, this re-election allows Indonesia in strategically continuing its contribution to supervising and providing recommendations to the work of the ITU Secretariat, in particular regarding ITU programs and budgeting; a contribution which has unceasingly been done by Indonesia since 1982.
Indonesia`s active role and contribution at the ITU has been evident by consecutively being elected as the ITU Council member for four times since 2002 (for the periods of 2002-2006, 2006-2010, 2010-2014, and 2014-2018).
As Indonesia is re-elected for the period of 2018-2022, it reflects the conviction of the global telecommunication world for Indonesia to continue its active participation as member of the Council.
Continuing in this position for a second time, Indonesia is expected to actively contribute to the work of ITU while simultaneously boosting its national interests in the global telecommunication/ICT sector.
ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhou earlier expressed belief that the infrastructure development of information and communication technology (ICT) in Indonesia will be ranked second in the Southeast Asia within the next two years.
"It would be achieved if the national government and stakeholders have a clear vision and plan for the development of the ICT," Zhou stated.
According to him, Indonesia has a good strategy to focus on the ICT development, viewed from the Palapa Ring broadband projects, which is expected to connect around 500 regions in the archipelago by 2019.
Zhou noted that China and India were considered to have a high potential for the ICT market. However, he predicted that it is the time for Indonesian market to also steal the world`s attention.
With a population of around 250 million people and a growing economy, Indonesia has the potential for a position in the dynamic Southeast Asian region and a lot of creative young people to build the future of the country.
Editing by Sri Hayati
Reporter: Azis Kurmala
Editor: Suharto
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