 And now, I would like to invite the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defence of Thailand, Ms Ying Lak Shinawat, on the stage to deliver the opening and keynote address to the Connect Asia-Pacific Summit 2013. Your Excellency, Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of Thailand, please, ma'am. Sawadee Ka. Distinguished Heads of State and Government, Secretary-General Hamaduan Jure, Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen, first of all, may I begin by expressing my condolences to the families of the victims of national disaster in the Philippines. The government and people of Thailand hope that there will be a quick recovery. Ladies and gentlemen, I wish to extend a warm welcome to all of you to the 2013 Connect Asia-Pacific Summit in Bangkok. This summit has been organized with the International Telecommunication Union, or ITU, linking together 33 countries for the first time. We are here to achieve a common goal to develop better and wider ICT links between nations and peoples. We hope these links will bring us all closer together in friendships and progress. Being a strong supporter of connectivity, Thailand looks forward to celebrating the 150th anniversary of ITU in 2015, a year that will also mark the launching of ASEAN communities. Ladies and gentlemen, we are in the middle of a digital new world full of possibilities as well as uncertainties. According to ITUs, measuring the information society, 250 million people came online last year, and 40% of the world's population will be using the internet by the end of this year. The broadband commission for digital development says that there are 9 billion connected devices today by 2025. There will be one trillion. 40 subscriptions are expected to increase by 10 times from 2012 to 2017. These developments in technology have allowed more and more devices to be connected to one another. Before ICT, I mainly linked to computer and cell phones. Now ICT has progressed by expanding to cover other utilities, appliances in households and databases around the world. These new connections have significantly changed our lives by allowing us to have greater mobility to conduct business and to stay connected with family and friends. That is why promoting ICT for all is so important. We need to ensure that people of all nations have greater access to it. ICT enhanced trade and investment by connecting businesses to customers and sources for finance from around the world. SMEs can benefit. Some have calculated that SMEs investing 30% of their budget on web technologies grow 9 times faster than those that invest only 10%. ICT also helped lower the cost of doing business for SMEs, making them more and more competitive. ICT also helped growth gender gap. It has been estimated that bringing 600 million more women online, women online, can increase global GDP by 13 to 18 billion US dollars. I also recall my discussion with Secretary General Thuray where he informed me of ITU projects that enable pregnant women and those with infants to work from home through ICT. This has given them better job securities. Most importantly, ICT powers people, better access to information and finance, empowers the individuals, it will inform citizens is the backbone of strong democracy, individual with better access to finance to be a more productive members of society. Globally, ICT has played a key role in advancing MDGs for many countries. For help, remote monitoring and diagnostics has helped countries achieve better health coverage. This has allowed medical care to reach areas that have never received sufficient medical care before. For education, open education resources and use of computer tablets have also led to wider and more effective education. In Thailand, the government has also made these policies one of our top priorities. We have distributed computer tablets with educational software to school students. We are enhancing ICT capabilities and coverage in schools and promoting long-distance learning. ICT connectivity is a global agenda. That is why the UN High-Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda straight using the new data revolutions more effectively so that development leaves no one behind. But let us forget this, there are also challenges. One of the biggest challenges is the digital device, the device between countries, especially for the least connected country. Right now, 80% of the household in developed countries have internet access. Why the developing countries only 28% have it. Another major challenge is the misuse of ICT connectivity by individuals or groups. This results in cyber crimes, cyber terrorism, and violence of privacy. Both of these challenges should be addressed if we have to a truly connected global community. Ladies and gentlemen, to move forward together, there are four key steps that we can take. First, we need to promote universal broadband access to everyone equally. This should be a basic right, like other basic public utilities such as water and electricity. Thailand is working hard to try and achieve this by introducing free Wi-Fi in public areas and a high-speed communications network. Universal broadband access in our region will require important investments. So it is our hope that international financial institutions can provide the necessary assistance. Second, we need to look more closely at the software aspect of ICT connectivity. This includes issues of regulations and capacity building of personnel. Special attention must be given to the least connected countries and the least developed countries. Here I suggest that the ICT focus these studies. On future ICT connectivity trends and needs of these countries and see how training and other programs might help address some of the problems. Third, we need to enhance partnerships between governments and other stakeholders, including private sectors. The challenges and promise of the digital new world affects all sectors of society. So solutions need to be worked out by stakeholders working together. After all, stakeholders include the ICT industry, the tourism sector, agriculture, manufacturing, large and small businesses, educators, and civil society. That is why Thailand is pleased that there are many stakeholders from all sectors here at the summit. We need to take what we learned from this summit and get a more concrete outcome, including implementing our declarations. And fourth, ICT connectivity is key to inclusive growth and development. Growth must benefit and involve everyone. On the part of governments, we can support inclusive growth by having our public services from healthcare to education to public safety, which everyone in particular in remote and less developed area. At the global level, we need to make enhanced ICT connectivity part of the post-2015 development agenda to facilitate this. The ITU could integrate the recommendations of this and previous summits to the global discussion on development. In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, the Asia Pacific is seen by many as the engine of the global economic. And the hope for global recovery, enhanced ICT connectivity plays an important role in sustaining this growth engine. So it is up to us to help achieve this. I hope that this summit will find practical ways for us to make best use of ICT connectivity to promote inclusive growth and well-being of peoples of the Asia Pacific. Thank you for your attention.