MARRAKESH, Sept. 23 - The 16^th Plenipotentiary Conference of the International telecommunication Union (ITU) opened here Monday to debate the future of the industry and of the Union.

Global telecommunication policy makers, more than 80 Ministers, Deputy-Ministers and Secretaries of State are attending the Conference. 

These high-level delegates are expected to propose global policy strategies that will breathe life back into the telecommunications sector and extend the benefits of ICTs to the more than half of the world’s population still struggling to get access to basic voice telephony.

Speaking at the opening session, Moroccan Prime Minister Abderrahmane Youssoufi, called on developed nations to extend necessary assistance to developing countries, particularly African ones, to enable them integrate the new world economic order, wherein telecommunication and information technology are a corner stone.

Making a case of Morocco’s experience in the field, Youssoufi said the Kingdom made of telecommunications and information technologies a priority sector and an engine for sustainable development.

Morocco endeavors to catch up with the technological delay and adapt to new changes in order to avoid the digital gap, he said, calling for more cooperation between developed and developing nations.

For his part, Nasr Hajji, secretary of state for post and telecommunication and information technologies, surveyed Morocco’s efforts to liberalize the sector. The policy yielded “extraordinary progress” in mobile phone which recorded an exceptional growth with 150,000 subscribers in 1999 and more than 6 million now, he said.

ITU Secretary-General, Yoshio Utsumi, in fluent Arabic welcomed delegates to the Red City of Marrakesh. He highlighted the major challenges facing ITU today, placing emphasis on the new information society, where information is the key to economic, social and cultural development, and where ITU must play a pivotal role. "At the start of the 20th century, the world was still labouring under the yoke of colonialism. Today, we are engaged in a new battle: the struggle for knowledge against the tyranny of ignorance. Information has the power to dispel ignorance, and to empower those who are oppressed by it. Moreover, information has the power to bind the global community into a cohesive fraternity, which shares the common ideals of peace and tolerance, growth and development." Mr Utsumi went on to stress that "ITU must provide a global policy perspective and wholehearted support for the battle against tyranny and ignorance".

All three speakers at the opening ceremony referred to Marrakesh as the most entrancing of cities, which indisputably represents the living memory of the age-old history of Morocco, and has the magical ability to ensure that all who come here enjoy their visit. "Here, in this colourful and vibrant city, many historic meeting have been held and many landmark decisions reached. What better setting then, for this Plenipotentiary Conference, the first of the new millennium, the new century and the new decade." Mr Utsumi said.