 Good morning to everyone President Kagame, Madame Irina Bokova, Dr. Hamadun Ture, distinguished colleagues, ladies and gentlemen. It is a real pleasure to be with you at this ninth meeting of the Broadband Commission with the high honor of representing Mr. Carlos Slim. Let me begin by expressing his deep regrets for not being able to attend this meeting. It is the first meeting that he cannot attend since the commission was established in the year 2010. As co-chair, Mr. Slim would like to wish the members of the commission a very productive meeting and commits his support to the implementation of the work plan of the commission. First assured that despite not being with us today, he will be following and contributing personally to our work this year. Let me also express his deep appreciation to Dennis O'Brien, our very kind host for organizing this meeting. Dennis, thanks on behalf of Carlos, who wishes to visit you in Dublin at the first available opportunity. I am sure that he would have enjoyed tremendously the fantastic program that you have put together, including the marvelous dinner that you hosted for us last night. Also on his behalf, let me provide an opening reflection to spark the discussion at this ninth meeting. Following our tradition, our spring meeting will look at the key priorities which need to be addressed to continue advocating for the role of broadband, networks, services, and applications as strategic instruments for social and economic development. As you very well know, the Broadband Commission was launched by the IT UN UNESCO in response to a call by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to step up efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goals or MDGs. Some would see the MDGs as specific targets for cutting poverty, hunger, disease, and environmental degradation. But in fact, the MDGs should not be considered as technocratic quantitative goals. They constitute the attainment of basic human rights for billions of people around the world. They are the foundation for eliminating extreme poverty in the third decade of this new century. We live in an interdependent world, and overcoming human misery is in the interest of everybody. The MDGs should be a decisive driving force for cooperation. For the construction of a world where no one dies because he is poor, and no one is excluded from basic human needs. It is a fact that broadband can make a tremendous contribution for their attainment. Our agenda today covers a wide range of topics, such as the role of broadband in the MDGs and the post-2015 agenda, the new role of telcos and content providers, and the challenges of rural broadband, as the President has just mentioned. Let us tackle each of these issues by looking beyond the work that we are already doing, and by focusing on the strategic points that still need to be addressed. Our agenda includes important issues on which the Commission can provide thoughtful leadership. It can devise innovative solutions to bring broadband to all, and also to provide muscle to move from theory to practice. In so doing, the Commission will continue to provide an example of collaboration between different types of stakeholders. Each of you brings great wisdom to our discussions. The challenges include the need to look for new approaches for investment, to expand access to broadband precisely at a moment when credit is not always available. In many countries, telecommunications infrastructure is needed to be duplicated every year. No other sector is facing a similar defiance. We need viable operating and financial models. Another challenge is to have a better understanding of the real affordability of broadband, and to have a stable and predictable regulation. In addition, there is the challenge of training end users so that digital inclusion becomes a reality. There are many good practices available. We need to expand them so that all population groups can have access to the benefits of the information and knowledge society. These are some of the challenges to be addressed in our discussions today. Let's use this meeting productively and identify our focus areas for this year. And let's define the actions to move forward our agenda so we can deliver concrete results to our full meeting. Once again, thank you, Dennis, for your warm and generous hospitality. Thank you all for your attendance and for your active participation. We all recognize your valuable commitment. Thank you very much.