Papua New Guinea will host the inaugural Pacific ICT Ministers Summit in Port Moresby in August this year.
This was announced by Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Minister, Timothy Masiu, during the Korea and Pacific Islands Digital Ministerial Conference with Pacific ICT delegates in Seoul, Republic of Korea earlier this week.
Minister Masiu was with the other Ministers that joined the Prime Minister’s delegation to attend the Korea-Pacific Islands Summit as well as bilateral meetings.
Pacific delegates that were informed by Masiu were from Tonga, Nauru, Samoa, Palau, Cook Islands and Kiribati which is the 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.
This is the 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 said.
He added 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.
“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.” He further stated.
The invitation was also extended to the South Korean Minister for Science and ICT, Dr Lee Jong- Ho, to also attend the up-coming summit in Port Moresby.