 Secretary-General, Excellencies Ministers, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to deliver Ethiopia's statement at this conference today. On behalf of the people and government of Ethiopia, I would like to join others in thanking the government and people of Romania for hosting this ITU Plenary Potentiary Conference and for the warm welcome extended to us. In the same vein, I would like to commend the ITU Secretariat for the excellent work done in making the necessary preparation for this conference. Let me also use this opportunity to express my sincere congratulations to the chairman, Mr. Sabin Sarmat, for being elected as the chairperson of this conference, but also to Ms. Dorim Bogdan Martin, the first female secretary-general to lead our global union in 157 years history, and Mr. Thomas for being elected as deputy secretary-general of the ITU. I would like to assure you all the cooperation and support of my country during your tenure. Excellencies, distinguished delegates, as we gather here today, we take full cognizance of the work done thus far by the ITU over the years. Ethiopia's membership of ITU dates back to 1932, which makes the cooperation and partnership between ITU and my country over 90 years. The seat of the ITU's regional office for Africa is also in Addis Ababa, the diplomatic capital city of Africa. Since 1932, Ethiopia has been strongly dedicated to support the achievements and goals of the organization. It will continue to fully commit itself to the strategic direction set by the ITU to ensure universal connectivity, promoting the much needed digital accessibility, thus narrowing the gap in the digital divide. During the past four years, major reforms took place in Ethiopia. Among these is the homegrown economic reform agenda which focuses on telecommunication, ICT sector. The liberalization of the telecommunication industry in Ethiopia generated an opportunity for various telecom players. In 2021, Ethiopia awarded SafariCom Ethiopia, a consortium consisting of Vodafone Group, SafariCom Kenya, Sumitomo Corporation of Japan and the British International Investment to be telecom operator in the country. This was operationalized in August 2022. Preparations are also under way to launch the second new license bid aiming to bring on board a third telecom operator. The privatization and national telecom operator, Ethiopia Telecom, is also well underway. Recognizing the need for a strong regulatory body, my government established the Ethiopian communication authority to carry out the sector regulation as well as to oversee the sector liberalization and privatization effort. In line with ITU's universal connectivity strategy goal, Ethiopia established universal access fund. The universal access and service framework was also developed and put into action. Excellencies distinguish delegates. Ethiopia has also been making tremendous changes in the digital space. In June 2020, Ethiopia developed a digital transformation strategy, Digital Ethiopia 2025, with the objective to build an inclusive digital economy that leaves no one behind. The strategy aims at developing the infrastructure mainly connectivity and power, enabling systems such as digital ID, digital payment, cybersecurity, digital interaction among government, private sector and citizens such as e-governance and e-commerce. The digital ecosystem including finance regulatory framework and people digital skills. We believe that digital ICT is a critical sector for the promotion of wealth and job creation. Digitalization in Ethiopia is expected to leapfrog the nation from its current states to a data and knowledge driven information society and economy. This is why several legal frameworks to enable the ecosystem and unleash the potential are being developed. For instance, the e-transaction proclamation, the personal data protection proclamation, the national ID ID proclamation and other key framework will play key roles in enabling the ecosystem. Initiatives such as digital ID, e-commerce, e-government, e-government, digital skills and literacy are expected to become fully operational in the next four years. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to conclude by expressing my heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to the outgoing Secretary General, Mr. Alin Zo, for his total of 36 committed service out of week 24 years in leadership as Director of Telecommunications Standardization Bureau, Deputy Secretary General and Secretary General of the ITU. Ethiopia sincerely appreciates your hard work and determination as well as achievements during your terms of office. We are very much grateful for your service. Ethiopia will be hosting the upcoming IGF from 28 November to December 2022. On behalf of my government, I would like to invite you all to come to Addis Ababa and enjoy its hospitality. Looking forward to closely working with the newly elected officials and offering congratulations in advance, I wish all of us a successful deliberation at the preliminary at the Plenary Potential Conference 2022. I thank you.