01/10/2022
Acting Permanent Secretary for Communications Tupou'tuah Baravilala delivered a statement at the International Telecommunications Union Plenipotentiary Conference 2022 in Bucharest, Romania which is being attended by over 3000 participants from Heads of Governments, Ministers, diplomatic corp, senior government officials, regulators, technical experts, academia and the private sector.
Ms Baravilala in her statement shared Fijiβs efforts in continuing to develop the telecommunications sector and making historic strides in bridging the digital divide in our society, and transforming Fiji into a digital economy.
"As a matter of priority, the Fijian Government is working to bridge the remaining five per cent of our population who live in the deep interiors of the two largest islands nestled between mountains, or in remote and maritime communities", said Ms Baravilala.
Ms Baravilala emphasised that an open, secure, stable, accessible, and peaceful cyberspace is
crucial to fully realise the Sustainable Development Goals and to ensure long term financial security and prosperity.
Ms Baravilala also called for the urgency of ensuring that ICT infrastructure is climate-resilient.
βResilient infrastructure is required for sustainability and given Fiji's heightened vulnerability due to adverse climatic events. Since, 2014, we have endured 14 cyclones. It is not difficult to imagine a severe storm destroying critical infrastructure and crippling our increasingly digital economy, said Ms Baravilala.
She also reiterated 's continued commitment to the collective vision to build a more digital,
inclusive ββ and more resilient ββ world.
The Fijian delegation was led by Ms Tupoutuah Baravilala, the Acting Permanent Secretary for Communications, and included Mr Vivek Anand, Principal Engineer β Department of Communications, and Mr Shanil Dutt, First Secretary - Fiji's Mission in Geneva. The ITU Plenipotentiary Conference will take place from 26 Spetember to 14 October 2022.
