 Mr. Chairman, Secretary-General of the ITU and elected officials, your excellencies, distinguished colleagues and delegates, on behalf of the government and people of the Republic of Ghana, I also extend our appreciation to the government of the UAE for hosting the 2018 ITU Plenary Potentiary Conference. We thank you for the warm welcome and the kind hospitality accorded to me and my delegation since our arrival in this smart, very beautiful city of Dubai. Mr. Chairman, we express our heartfelt congratulations to you and trust in your capabilities to steer this conference to provide future direction and indeed guidance to all the sectors of the ITU for the 2019-2022 period. Mr. Chairman, we extend through you our condolences to the government and people of Indonesia for the unfortunate air disaster. Distinguished colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, Ghana is fully committed to the common vision of an information society empowered by the interconnected world where telecommunications and ICTs enable and accelerate social, economic and environmentally sustainable growth and development for everyone. The government of Ghana, under the able leadership of its Excellency President Nana Adodankwa Ekufuado, Co-Chair of the UN Sustainable Development Goals Advocacy Group, is pursuing a digital Ghana agenda for the massive transformation of our economy through technology and broadband development. It is digit time in Ghana. Our president is a firm advocate for the utilization of technology for the realization of all the SDGs and we're actively working towards that. Ghana is focusing on improving the efficiency of service delivery with particular reference to rural and underserved communities, women and gender parity and opportunities for the use through the nurturing of new businesses, creation of job opportunities, facilitation of ICT-based entrepreneurship and securing our cyberspace for the realization of the SDGs. Mr. Chairman, with widespread broadband infrastructure in the country and international bandwidth provided by five submarine optic fiber cables, Ghana, with the population of around 29 million people has recorded mobile voice penetration of 137.38 percent and data penetration of 75.54 percent. Ghana's telecom sector has 20 internet service providers with an average download speed of 4.78 megabits per second and is still growing stronger due to the enabling environment created for the private sector to thrive. Following the importance of digital equity, the government of Ghana is taking further steps to bridge the digital divide by introducing initiatives aimed at supporting and empowering the citizenry to embrace the use of ICT. We have commenced the issuance of a biometric national identification card to citizens and residents to facilitate the development of a common database society to enhance public service delivery in various sectors of the economy. We've also started the National Digital Property Addressing System to support your location, the issuance of postal codes and help formalize our economy. Ghana has established a mobile money interoperability platform to aid financial inclusion of the unbanked. This is promoting a cashlight society and alternative channels for access to digital financial services riding on the back of the mobile telephony infrastructure of the country. We have also provided assistive technology-enabled devices to our vision-impaired undergraduates to facilitate their computer literacy and education. We aim to extend that facility to all our schools for the visually impaired. We will leave no one behind in our quest to narrow the digital divide and are using our Universal Access Fund in partnership with the private sector to extend connectivity to the rural, unserved and underserved communities. This year alone, we have constructed 400 rural telephony sites with 80 repeater stations and connected almost 2 million people. In pursuance of the digital equity, Ghana has implemented a paperless port that has reduced the time spent in transacting business at the port from 14 days to six hours. In addition, we are in the process of migrating from Manilok to digital broadcasting and benefiting from the digital dividend through the sale of one block in the 800 megahertz band being used for 4G services. Through the assistance of the ITU, we have operationalized the conformance and interoperability laboratories for type approval in Ghana and have extended an invitation to the ITU to utilize these four laboratories as centers of excellence in training and capacity building for the West African subregion. Ghana is making every effort to provide a safe environment for digital participation through the establishment of computer incident response teams, both at the national and sectoral levels, including sets for the financial and telecommunication sectors, and established a national cybersecurity center. We have reviewed our annual cybersecurity celebration this year by extending the week-long celebration to one month in order to create awareness across all regions of the country. The promotion of safe cyber hygienic practices through awareness, creation, and public education will be sustained and we are laying a special emphasis on child online protection as well. Beyond these national initiatives, Ghana actively participates in international collaboration and welcomes deepened resolutions on international cooperation towards building confidence and trust in the use of ICTs globally. Mr. Chairman, Secretary-General, distinguished colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, Ghana, an active member of the ITU and the Council, is fully committed to the decisions of the 2018 Session of Council. We have aligned our developmental goals within the ICT sector to the five key goals of the ITU's strategic plan proposed for 2020 to 2023. We are of the firm belief that by the end of the period, Ghana would be sharing interesting developments and achievements to the ITU membership. Mr. Chairman, we come in solidarity with the membership of the ITU and are committed to addressing the needs of our people. We agree with the suggested contributory units to support the strategic plan and look forward to increased partnerships as well as investment towards bridging the digital divide. We will continue to support the consensus-building approach that has always characterized the ITU plan reports to ensure that this conference achieves the optimum guidance for the next four years and beyond. You can count on Ghana's support, Mr. Chairman, and we hope to continue serving on the Council with your assistance and the votes of all delegates. I hereby invite you all to our Ghana luncheon on Thursday, 1st November at 1pm. I wish this planning potentially conference all-embracing success. I thank you.