Comoros

Madam Secretary General of the International Telecommunications Union, newly elected 
Mr. Secretary General of the International Telecommunications Union 
Ladies and Gentlemen Ministers and Heads of Delegation, 
Ladies and gentlemen, the leading members of the IUT, 
Honorable delegates, 

Assalam Anlaikum Wa Rahamatullah Wabarakatu 

On behalf of the Comorian delegation, allow me first of all to thank and congratulate the Romanian government for holding this conference and for its warm welcome in these prestigious places. 

I take this opportunity once again to congratulate Mrs. Doreen Bogdane , newly elected Secretary General of the IUT for the confidence that the Member States of the ITU have just placed in her to lead our organization for the next four years. 

At the same time, I express our sincere thanks and compliments to Mr Rachid Ismailov for the spirit of competitiveness, for his contribution to the development of ICTs through his work in the various ITU bodies and for his desire to continue to his good works at the highest level. 

Likewise, my congratulations go to Mr. Houlia  Zaho outgoing Secretary General of the ITU for the valuable work accomplished during the last eight years at the head of our Organization. 

Honorable assistance, 

The current global context has brought a new approach and a radical change in our way of working, of exchanging, … and quite simply of existing. 

We have all witnessed an extraordinary increase in the use of new technologies in everyday life before, during and after the covid-19 pandemic. 

We learned some very useful lessons. 

Today, We are gathered here to reflect together on the issues of meaningful connectivity for all and useful digital transformation in order to promote a more inclusive society at the global level. We are also here to provide our organization with its leaders for the years to come. 

In recent years, the Union of the Comoros has focused on the development of the telecommunications sector in order to implement the Emerging Comoros Plan which has established ICT as an essential catalyst for this Plan. 

This is the vision of the President of the Union of the Comoros, SEM AZALI ASSOUMANI for an emergence of our country by 2030. 

On the basis of the Emerging Comoros Plan, our objective as the Ministry of Telecommunications and the digital economy is to make our country a privileged player in the digital field for Comorians within the Indian Ocean sub-region and for a better integration in the globalized world in which we find ourselves. 

First of all, being an island country, the challenges we face are numerous but surmountable thanks to our combined efforts and the support of development partners and other friendly countries such as you. 

Honorable Support, 

The effective liberalization of the telecommunications sector started 6 years ago in our country is beginning to bear fruit with a diversification of services and competitive prices for users. 

These new services require more international connectivity and better coverage. This is how the Comoros have seen their national coverage improve with 4G, a national fiber optic backbone, and soon the connection to a fourth international submarine cable, 2Africa, which will join those already operational. 

We are continuing these efforts and are in the process of implementing our sectoral policy, and being able to express through this forum, our vision with regard to the challenges and prospects of a world that is changing under the influence of technological innovations. 

We have started to restructure the country’s digital ecosystem. We continue to update regulations in order to support and enable technological innovations, promote free competition and respond to the rapid evolution of the telecommunications and digital sector. 

We are also deploying our e-Governance system, in particular with the launch of priority services such as public procurement, the trade register management system, the improvement and securing of State revenues and the launch of an administrative webmail platform . 

Madam Secretary General-elect, Mr Secretary General, dear friends, 

We put human capital, in particular the capacity building of our youth, at the center of our concerns to face the major challenges of tomorrow. More than 65% of our population is under 25 years old and we are counting on this connected Comorian youth to make the Union of the Comoros a digital nation. 

Finally, Madam the newly elected Secretary General, Mr Secretary General, 

Living better in the digital age represents a huge challenge not only for the Union of the Comoros, but also for all to reduce the digital divide and not further aggravate the development divide between gender, geographical location and professional fields. . 

In this context, the International Telecommunications Union plays a key role for a vision of harmonization between countries through this notion of connectivity for all and digital transformation for sustainable development. 

” Connect and Unite ” is the slogan of this edition, so let’s join forces to connect the world! And leave no one behind. 

Finally, I hope that this conference will lead to profitable and concrete resolutions for all and as we are witnessing, having a woman at the head of our organization is a very good momentum for change to succeed together under this new female leadership. 

I thank you for your kind attention.