Thursday 01st June 2023
Information and Communication Technology Minister Timothy Masiu has announced Papua New Guinea will host the inaugural Pacific ICT Ministers Summit in August in Port Moresby.
In a meeting with Pacific ICT delegates in Seoul, Republic of Korea, Minister Masiu informed the delegates from Tonga, Nauru, Samoa, Palau, Cook Islands and Kiribati that the meeting is a follow up from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU ) meeting in Romania last year where the Pacific leaders expressed the need for the Pacific to a voice on significant ICT matters.
Minister Masiu informed his colleague Ministers that, following on from the Pacific ICT Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) in Kokopo, PNG, earlier this year, preparations are well underway for the Pacific ICT Ministers’ Meeting.
“ The overarching theme is, “Smart Pacific, One Voice” with added emphasis on a “Connected Pacific – Enabling Aspirations through ICT.”
As the Chair and host for the Secretariat, PNG is working with other members in the region and also to push for an ITU Sub-Regional Office in the Pacific. “
He told a meeting with the Pacific Delegates in Seoul at the sides of the Korea Pacific Islands Digital Ministerial Conference that the recommendations and proposed cooperation from the Conference with South Korea will form inputs to the resolutions at the Pacific ICT Ministers’ Meeting and to further strengthen working with development partners in digital transformation.
He added PNG is committed and will continue to work with all Pacific Island nations to promote regional cooperation and collaboration given the region is scattered with a wide ocean space and digital transformation is the way forward for better Information and Communication to harness development in all sectors.
The Minister said he was grateful the Pacific Delegation in South Korea and the others not present but are in constant dialogue with the Department of Information and Communication Technology are in support of the PNG initiative.
Tonga, Samoa, Nauru, Palau, Cooks Islands and Kiribati delegates who are in South Korea for the Korea and Pacific Islands Digital Ministerial Conference have endorsed the Pacific ICT Ministers meeting.
Minister Masiu has officially invited the South Korean Minister for Science and ICT Dr Lee Jong- Ho to attend the summit in Port Moresby.