Dhaka, 22 July 2018: 

 Bangladesh announced its candidacy for membership to the Council of International Telecommunication Union (ITU) for the third consecutive year. The announcement was made by Foreign Minister A H Mahmood Ali MP at a reception held at the State Guest House Padma today. The election is going to be held during the Plenipotentiary Conference of the International Telecommunication Union scheduled to be held in Dubai, UAE from 29 October to 06 November 2018.

The reception, jointly organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and IT was attended byAmbassadors/ High Commissioners/ CDAs a.i. from all diplomatic Missions based in Dhaka. Foreign Secretary, Secretary, Posts & Telecom Division, Secretary, ICT Division, Chairman, BTRC,  and other senior officials of both Ministries also attended the event.

Foreign Minister highlighted Bangladesh’s progress towards achieving ‘Digital Bangladesh’ as envisioned by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and conceived by ICT Advisor Sajeeb Wazed Joy. Referring to the recent successful launching of satellite Bangabandhu-1 into the space, he mentioned about Bangladesh’s efforts to improve people’s lives through effective use of telecom and ICT.

A brief presentation by BTRC (Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission) on achievements of Bangladesh in IT sector was delivered at the beginning of the event which highlighted Bangladesh’s remarkable progress in ensuring sustainable development and peoples’ empowerment through by ensuring universal access to telecom and ICT. The presentation also focused on Bangladesh’s activities during last two terms as ITU Council member. He also described briefly the pledges of Bangladesh for highest effort to ensure the necessary infrastructure and deliver pro-people services to establish a democratic, poverty free, knowledge based society by using ICT and modern technology.

After the presentation, Mr. Shyam Sunder Sikder, Secretary, Posts and Telecommunications Division requested for consideration of the diplomatic corps and solicited valuable support of their respective governments to Bangladesh’s candidature to the ITU Council. 

Bangladesh is seeking re-election from “E” region. Bangladesh has earlier served the Council for two consecutive terms (2011-2015, 2016-2018).