 It is a great honor to speak before you on behalf of the United Kingdom. I would firstly like to offer the United Kingdom's warmest thanks and congratulations to Argentina and to the ITU for organizing this important conference. The ITU's development sector has a critically important role to play in supporting developing countries. I would like to offer our congratulations to the development sector on its 25th anniversary. The United Kingdom is fully committed to assisting developing countries. We are very proud to be one of the very few countries that meets the UN target to spend 0.7% of our gross national income on foreign aid. And the UK is fully committed to the ITU and the important role it plays. We are very proud in particular of Malcolm Johnson and the work he does to ensure that the ITU delivers for all of its members, working in a spirit of friendship and cooperation with countries from every region of the world. We are proud to be supporting him for a second term as Deputy Director General in order to secure a strong future for the ITU. We know that telecommunications and ICTs are an essential building block of economic and social development. The World Summit on the Information Society set out an ambitious people-centered development agenda to ensure that people from every part of the world can benefit from the potential of telecommunications and ICTs. An estimated 50% of humanity is still not connected to the internet. A core function of the ITU is helping to overcome this major obstacle to global economic development. The 2030s Sustainable Development Agenda is a great opportunity to harness the potential of telecommunications and ICTs to support development, and we are very pleased that the theme of this conference is ICT for Sustainable Development Goals. There is a very full agenda to make this a reality, building an enabling environment for investment, fostering competitive markets, promoting public-private partnerships which support investment in infrastructure, putting in place transparent and predictable regulatory frameworks, and supporting capacity-building and skills development. I know there are many countries represented here today which have already done excellent work in advancing this agenda. We need to make sure that no one is left behind. To deliver sustainable development, we need to bring together the efforts of all stakeholders. All the governments here today, including my own, need to reach out and work with the private sector, civil society, the technical community, academics, and others if we are to make a real difference. The ITU delivers best when it opens its doors to other stakeholders and builds a spirit of common endeavor. This conference is a great opportunity to build that spirit and to make the Sustainable Development Agenda a reality. To everyone here, we extend our very best wishes for a successful conference, and we look forward to working with you in the time ahead. Thank you very much.