 Welcome to the ITU studio in Geneva, we're very pleased to be joined in the studio today by Mr. Saif Bin Khalaita, who is the Executive Director of Technology Development Affairs for the United Arab Emirates Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority or TDRA. Mr. Bin Khalaita, thank you very much indeed for joining us. Thank you Mr. Maximilian, it's always pleasure being with you. We've invited you here of course because you have been chair of the ITU Council 2022 and I wanted to ask you a little bit about your experiences of that, but first of all perhaps you could tell us what are the key outcomes of ITU Council 2022. Thank you Maximilian, first of all I would like to thank the ITU for bringing us back to Geneva. Geneva is the home for the Council, Geneva is a second home for many of us and it's always good to be back home. We have missed that for a couple of years but now we are back here. The Council has supported itself, guided us and helped us a lot to sail through the agenda that was in front of us. And what about the outcomes, what are some of the key outcomes of ITU Council 2022? Let me give you some statistics about the participants, I mean it was amazing, I mean we have more than 650 participants, out of which 515 are present in Popof Room with 139 participating remotely. We have 47 member states attending this Council session which is impressive. We have the State of Palestine, some other regional organizations and specialized organizations part of this meeting. In terms of the gender representation, we have 36% women participating physically in the meeting and 47 remotely, that's marvelous for this meeting after the pandemic. I'm coming back to the question regarding the outcomes. For this session of the Council of 2022, I'm being the one just before the planning potential of 2022, we had many issues put in front of us as the agenda. We have the usual agenda of the Council in addition to matters related to PP put in front of us. We have issues related to strategy and planning to the policy. We have many reports in front of us for consideration. We have the management and the operational matters. We have the operational plan, the proposed operational plan for 2024 to 2027 that was considered. We have the Council working groups, achievement reports and also the four year reports of their achievement, many of which were endorsed and many of these Council working groups were recommended for continuation for a second period and that will be at the PP level and some others were thanked for their contribution and their work and the decision for the way forward will be left to the PP. Are you pleased with the outcomes with anyone in particular perhaps? I don't want to be siding in favour of one in particular. There are many actually. My role was to facilitate the discussion. The member states, the contributions and the discussion drove the outcomes that we came to. We have many, as I said, we have the GIU recommendations and how the ITU will adopt these recommendations for implementation. We have the guidelines for GCA. So we've discussed the financial operational plan for 2024-2027 that was proposed for consideration. We have also the Council working group progress reports and the four year reports and the endorsements for many of these Council working groups to continue for a further period in addition to thanking all and applauding the work of some other groups for which the decision will be left to the PP for the way forward. We have the auditors reports and the audit reports that were discussed during the session. We have also enhancements to the ITU processes and procedures that will help actually the ITU cope with the changes and the demands and hope and keep the ITU as a leader in its space. Many changes to the regulations, I mean, many regulations and the resolutions were adopted. The financial operational plan of 2020 was approved. The accessibility framework was endorsed. The staff regulation matters were discussed to name a few. So these are few of the items that were discussed and approved. And it was a good achievement. That's excellent. Thank you so much for sharing with us. Councils 2022 talk about resolutions adopted a resolution deploying the widespread destruction of critical infrastructure and failure of telecom services that have occurred across the Ukraine. I wanted to ask you, could you tell us about the mandate that the resolution gives to ITU? Thank you. I mean, taking into consideration the principles that the ITU works on, I mean, the principles of cooperation, collaboration, humanity, independence of all, there was a contribution that garnered overwhelming support and that the support is assistance to Ukraine in rebuilding its telecommunications services. That resolution was adopted and it mandates on the ITU to help Ukraine in rebuilding the critical infrastructure of telecommunications to help them communicate well and have a reliable communication network. Coming to the end of ITU Council 2022, do you think that the union is well prepared now for the Plenipotentiary Conference? I believe so. I mean, I've seen a regional coordination meeting happening here during one of the lunch breaks in which all the regional groups participated. So they were sharing their work, their progress, and it seems that all the regions are well prepared. Also, the chair designated for PP22 is present in our meetings. He's ready, he's confident, he's enthusiastic, and I think we'll have a very fruitful, successful discussion during PP, I mean, with his leadership. So I believe, yes, the ITU with the increased level of regional participation and the coordination meetings that are happening prior to the PP will help in making a successful event. From the conversations that have been had here, what do you think will be the major opportunities and challenges for the union in the next few years? The challenges will keep coming, I mean, we can't predict, I mean, what happened in the couple of years back, I mean, that was unpredictable, but it's always good, the challenge would be how to convert the challenge into an opportunity and then work on it. So that will continue to happen. And in the telecommunications sector, the ITU is responsible about a very important aspect of our daily life now, and with ever increasing changes and challenges in that, the member states will always look at the union to help them sail through these challenges and get them, I mean, so that no one is left behind. The race is on, everybody is building their networks and their services, and the union's work and the union's principles of not leaving anyone behind will help, actually, everybody to be in power and with equal footing for everybody to utilize these networks for the benefit of humanity. Now, I'm sure that everyone who's been in attendance will agree that you've done an excellent job as chair, you've tackled some difficult subjects and difficult conversations, and you've managed to come through here to the end. I wanted to ask you, have you got any final words? The achievements cannot be without the work of the ITU, ITU secretariat and the work of the member states themselves and the contributions. As I told you earlier, I mean, the spirit that they are back again, seeing each other, that atmosphere itself helped us a lot, I mean. It was much difficult during the virtual consultations of councilors, now it's much easier when we see each other, converse with each other, have coffee breaks, lunch breaks, and talk to each other. With that, I mean, I would like to thank everybody, actually, who was involved in this process, and I hope that we can continue this in the future so that we can build on the principles that were attained, that everybody's here to collaborate for the benefit of everybody. Some final words indeed. Thank you very much for sharing your insights with us and we look forward to catching up with you again in the very near future. Thank you. Thank you for having me. Thanks very much. Thank you.