Kingdom Retains Its Seat on the ITU Council and Wins in Member States Elections

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia won the member states elections for the ITU Council held today, Monday, at the plenary session of the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference, currently held in the city of Busan, South Korea; where a vote was held to elect only 48 countries out of the Union's 193 member states to be among the membership of the ITU Council for the next four years, in which the Kingdom was re-elected to Council membership for the Asia and Australasia region, thereby enabling the Kingdom to retain its Council membership held since 1965, having been renominated in every election cycle since that date.

On this occasion, His Excellency the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Eng. Mohammed Jamil bin Ahmed Mulla, offered his congratulations to the government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques on this win, expressing that this achievement came as an expected result of the care, support and attention given to the telecommunications and information technology sector in the Kingdom by our wise government, and also as a result of the elevated standing enjoyed by the Kingdom within the international community.

Minister Mulla praised the efforts made by members of the Kingdom's delegation participating in the Plenipotentiary Conference through the early preparation of the Kingdom's candidacy campaign, and introducing member states and other delegations to the reality of the advanced sector in the Kingdom, and presenting the great efforts made by the wise government in caring for telecommunications and information technology services and spreading them throughout the Kingdom. Minister Mulla also praised the positions of all ITU member states that voted for the Kingdom and supported its campaign in these elections.

In turn, His Excellency the Governor of the Communications and Information Technology Commission, Eng. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Darrab, offered his congratulations to the government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques on the Kingdom's win in the ITU Council membership elections, noting that the great support and wise guidance enjoyed by the sector in the Kingdom from our wise government contributed to achieving this accomplishment, and explaining that thanks to the confidence enjoyed by the Kingdom among the Union's member states, it has been re-elected since 1965.

Eng. Al-Darrab noted that the member states' votes in favor of the Kingdom reflect these countries' belief in the importance of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's presence on the Union's governing council, so that through its position on the Council it continues its well-known approach of providing supportive contributions to the work of the Union's three sectors: development, standardization and radiocommunication.

It should be noted that the Kingdom, represented by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and the Communications and Information Technology Commission, undertook, as part of its pursuit of candidacy for ITU Council membership, a number of early efforts including introductory meetings and communication with members of other countries' delegations to introduce them to the telecommunications and information technology sector in the Kingdom, and the role of government support in advancing development in the sector through market liberalization, regulation, enacting related legislation, financing projects, building networks, and other efforts ensuring the deployment of the latest services throughout the Kingdom with high quality and reasonable prices.

It should be noted that the Kingdom has previously chaired the ITU Council twice, and has retained its membership on the Union's governing council since 1965, having been renominated in every election cycle since that date.