 Welcome to ITU Telecom World 2013, here in the dynamic city of Bangkok, the commercial hub of the emerging region of Southeast Asia. Get away to fast-growing Asia and the ideal location for this event. ITU Telecom World brings together the global ICT community from public and private sectors from across the entire spectrum of the industry and from all corners of the world. In four days of strategic debate, high-level networking, knowledge sharing, and innovation showcasing. The conversation that we will all share in this week is the one conversation that matters. Indeed, conversation is at the very heart of the ITU Telecom World 2013. No other comparable event unites so much experiences and passion, or connects so many individuals, experts, ideas, projects, and potential partners. The key theme of this year's event is embracing change in a digital world. We are witnessing a continuing revolution in the ICT sector. The shift to internet protocol-based services is shaking the foundation of communication systems as we know them. We need to understand these changes, work out how to grow with them, and benefit from them. That's what these conversations in interactive panel sessions, workshops, and show floor sessions will focus on in the next few days. Changes in a way we communicate. In the dynamics of the industry, in business models and markets, in regulation and standardization, changes caused by the advent of new technologies and technological developments. Changes with the power to drive socio-economic development on an unprecedented scale. Remember, it took 125 years to reach the first billion fixed line subscriptions globally. And we are very unlikely ever to reach the second billion. It took just nine years to reach the first billion mobile broadband subscriptions. And it took only two more years to reach the second billion. Having seen the tremendous progress over the recent years, I am confident that our industry will seize the opportunity and employ the transformative power of ICT to accelerate development. So as our world continues to go digital, let us take up this challenge together, embrace the changes and opportunities, and work together to enable not just the industry but all citizens of the world to benefit from the transformation of the digital world.