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<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> Edoardo
Bellando [mailto:bellando@un.org] <BR><B>Sent:</B> May 12, 2008 2:02
PM<BR><B>To:</B> unlisted-recipients:; no To-header on input<BR><B>Subject:</B>
UN media advisory: Global Forum on Access and Connectivity to meet in Kuala
Lumpur, 19-20 May<BR><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=center><BR><IMG src="cid:_1_03F0838003F064100073810E85257447">
<BR><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=2><B>United Nations</B></FONT> <BR><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=2><B>MEDIA ADVISORY</B></FONT></DIV><BR>
<DIV align=center><BR><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><B><U>GLOBAL FORUM ON
ACCESS AND CONNECTIVITY IN ASIA-PACIFIC </U></B></FONT><BR><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3><B><U>TO MEET IN KUALA LUMPUR, 19-20
MAY</U></B></FONT> <BR><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><B><U>Malaysia's
Prime Minister Badawi to open annual meeting of GAID Strategy Council on 18
May</U></B></FONT></DIV><BR><BR><BR><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=2>New
York, 12 May (UN Global Alliance for ICT and Development - GAID) — The <B>Global
Forum on Access and Connectivity: Innovative funding for ICT for
Development</B>, to be held in Kuala Lumpur on 19 and 20 May, will bring
together participants from different sectors to seek ways to expand affordable
connectivity, applications and services throughout the Asia-Pacific
region.</FONT> <BR><BR><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>Participants include
<B>Craig Barrett,</B> Chairman of the United Nations Global Alliance for ICT and
Development and Chairman of Intel Corporation; <B>Amirzai Sangin</B>,
Minister for Communications and IT of Afghanistan; <B>Ali Abbasov</B>, Minister
of Communications and IT of Azerbaijan; <B>Benjamin Aggrey Ntim, </B>Minister of
Communications of Ghana; <B>Basem Fawaz Rousan</B>, Minister of ICT of Jordan;
</FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=2><B>Maximus Ongkili,</B> Minister of
Science, Technology and Innovation of Malaysia; </FONT><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3><B>Haj Klai</B>, Minister of Communication
Technologies of Tunisia; <B>Hessa Al Jaber, </B>Secretary-General of the ICT
Supreme Council of Qatar;<B> Hamadoun Touré</B>, Secretary-General of the
International Telecommunication Union (ITU); <B>Sha Zukang</B>, United Nations
Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs;<B> Ulf Pehrsson</B>,
Vice President for Government and Industry Relations, Ericsson; and <B>Ahmed
Mahjoub</B>, President and CEO, Tunisia Telecom.</FONT> <BR><BR><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=2>Forum sessions will focus on closing gaps in
high-speed broadband infrastructure in Asia and the Pacific; innovative funding
mechanisms for IT infrastructure; applications and services for multilingual
communities; extending IT connectivity to island States; and enhancing IT
workforce training, especially for young people.</FONT> <BR><BR><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=2>“As a region,” said Global Alliance Executive
Coordinator Sarbuland Khan, “Asia and the Pacific was amongst the early adopters
of high-speed broadband networks, and has invested in IT as the core
infrastructure for modernizing its economy and spurring innovation. While the
region has some of the most advanced broadband and IT-related technologies and
policies, major gaps in broadband infrastructure in the least developed
countries continue to limit investment, economic growth, employment and
development”.</FONT> <BR><BR><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=2>Panellists will
give their views on business opportunities and on ways to boost investment in
the region’s IT infrastructure, including through policy and regulatory
measures, innovative financing and public-private partnerships.</FONT>
<BR><BR><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=2>One meeting will focus on the
initiative “New and Refurbished PCs for Schools”, which aims at providing
500,000 new and refurbished computers for 10,000 schools, catering for 35
million students, by 2012. The initiative has the support of the Virginia-based
Consumer Electronics Association, which has offered to work with the
Global Alliance to expand the supply of new and refurbished computers and ensure
that the end users are reached. Intel, Cisco and other private companies are
ready to take part in the initiative.</FONT> <BR><BR><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=2>On 18 May, the Global Alliance’s Strategy Council
and Steering Committee, chaired by Craig Barrett, will meet to chart the
Alliance’s next steps. Malaysia’s Prime Minister <B>Abdullah Badawi</B> will
open the morning Strategy Council meeting, and Malaysia’s Minister of Science,
Technology and Innovation <B>Maximus Ongkili</B> will open the afternoon
Steering Committee meeting. Participants will discuss the progress of the
Alliance’s flagship initiatives and regional networks, and will be briefed on
new initiatives.</FONT> <BR><BR><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=2>The Global
Forum coincides with the 2008 World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT),
which will bring to Kuala Lumpur from 18 to 22 May more than 70 IT industry
associations representing more than 90% of the world’s IT market, together with
civil society, academia and other experts.</FONT> <BR><BR><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=2>The Global Forum, to be held at the Kuala Lumpur
Convention Centre, is organized by the Global Alliance for ICT and Development.
The Global Alliance seeks to mobilize the human, financial and technical
resources required to develop ICT infrastructure, services and applications
across the world.</FONT> <BR><BR><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=2><B>Contact:
</B>Enrica Murmura at the Global Alliance, Tel.: (1-212) 963-5913, e-mail:
</FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=blue size=2>murmura@un.org</FONT><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=2>, or Edoardo Bellando, Tel.: (1-212) 963 8275,
e-mail </FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=blue size=2>bellando@un.org.
</FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=2><B>Website:</B>
http://www.un-gaid.org.</FONT> <BR><BR><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=3>###</FONT> <BR>!DSPAM:2676,4828b0a4227561289211071! </BODY></HTML>