 Welcome to ITU Telecom World 2019 here in Budapest, Hungary. We're very pleased to be joined in the studio today by Mr Silvio Schembre, who is the Minister for Financial Services, Digital Economy and Innovation from Ulta. Welcome to the studio. Thank you very much for inviting me to your show. Now, Minister, I wanted to start off by asking you about the events theme, is innovating together, connectivity that matters. What makes connectivity meaningful to you and why is it so important? I think connectivity is a crucial and play central role in all economy today. The more we look at different economies, the more we see that all of them are becoming more digital. So, basically, a few years ago, we were speaking about connecting countries, then connecting people, now we're speaking also about connecting machines, too. So, basically, connectivity is definitely key to succeed in today's economy where everything is much more digital. And what single innovation, technology, policy or strategy, do you think, has got the potential to really drive digital transformation? Well, in terms of digital innovation, we speak about different digital innovations. So, speaking about emerging technologies, we speak about blockchain, artificial intelligence, internet of things, big data. But I think the central idea behind digital innovation would be an innovation that would service the people in providing a better and much more efficient service to the people. So, if I were to choose a single innovation that would basically be the center of demand of all people, it would be that innovation that would make life much more easier for people in general. Excellent. And Malta is going to be hosting accessible Europe event this December, which of course, ITU is very much involved with. What are your priorities, key initiatives and best practices in reducing inequalities? Yeah, in conferences like this, we try to accept also the work that we have done in this, for example, in this particular sphere. We have established for the past few years FETA, that is the Foundation Information Technology Accessibility, whereby through this foundation, the MOTI's government would implement technology, which is much more accessible to all people, especially people with disability. So, we're speaking about active ageing for people that are basically of a certain age, but we speak also about technology for disabled people to make it much more accessible for them. During this conference, we would be showcasing on how different technologies are being able to make life easier for people with certain disabilities. And how is Malta addressing the deployments and use cases of 5G? 5G is very much, of course, a hot topic here. Yeah, I think 5G is not only a hot topic here, it's a hot topic all over the world. In each and every conference that have been going and making around another world, 5G is always a hot topic to discuss. In our case, we also made a survey in Malta whereby the majority of all stakeholders think that 5G is basically, it's got its benefits, but we cannot not say that there's still uncertainty on how to implement or when to implement the transformation from 4G to 5G. That cannot be taken for granted even with the required investment that needs to be done on a domestic level also locally in Malta. So that is how we're addressing, but we are not just looking at 5G as a standalone action. In Malta, the digital economy plays a vital role, as I explained before. We are very much based on the services industry. And we've, as a government, we're playing a crucial role in providing also certainty for the industry to be able to operate. For example, we have done this in the blockchain sphere. We have been the first country in the world to legislate and enable blockchain activities to operate from Malta. And that is what, as a government, providing certainty for operators to be able to operate. Apart from that, we have the very strong eye gaming industry. Last May, we also announced our strategy for the video game development industry. This year, we're going to announce the strategy for the implementation of national AI strategy. All these different niches would be much more implemented better using 5G technology. So when looking at 5G, we are looking at a holistic ecosystem of implementation in a country. Are financial constraints going to be a key factor there as well? Well, I think in any innovative product, the financial aspect would be a key aspect to look into it. But then, having said that, given the positive outcomes of that particular product, I think financial constraints would come at the second replace. That's very bold and very strong. I wanted to ask you, in terms of attending events such as ITU Telecom World 2019, what's the value of attending events such as this? The value of such events, I would say it is always networking. It's good to attend conferences to see also sharing of information and seeing best practices of our countries, of listening to policymakers, to regulators, what they have to say. But someone can say, look, this can be done also electronically or through transmissions. But the value of networking and actually knowing the people that are legislating in another country and actually sharing informal discussions with people, policymakers and regulators amongst others, is the real value of conferences such as this. Well, it's been a pleasure listening to what you have to say. And Minister, thank you very much for joining us in the studio. And hopefully we'll catch up with you again in the very near future. And very best of luck as well with our event in December as well. Thank you. It was a pleasure of mine. Thank you.