 Good day to you all. It gives me great pleasure to send a message on the occasion of this conference being organized by the Planet Earth Institute. I'll speak about the importance of higher education. As we all know there has been a phenomenal growth in higher education in the past decade. In 2007 there were 150 million tertiary students globally which was already a 53% increase over 2000. In 2012 the number has increased to 165 million with an estimate that this is expected to rise further to 263 million in 2025. In spite of this huge expansion in higher education the age participation rates or APRs that means the participation of the 18 to 24 year olds in higher education in the developing world are far below those in the OECD countries which on an average have APRs of 40 to 50%. For example in South Asia the APRs remain at about 15% and in sub-Saharan Africa the number falls to below 10%. Many of the developing countries in these two regions South Asia and Africa are also experiencing a youth bulge. In fact Africa is the most youthful continent today with 65% of its population under the age of 35. If this youth bulge has to be converted into a demographic dividend, governments will need to provide quality higher education to its young people and citizens. Between now and 2025 we will need to build four universities with the capacity of 30,000 every week if we are to accommodate children who would reach enrollment age during this period. Several research studies indicate that the countries which raised their APRs in higher education were the most effective in achieving social and economic development. So it is clear that countries will have to expand access to quality higher education. This will not be possible through the conventional brick and mortar approaches. They will need to harness the potential of open distance and technology-based learning. These would include new developments such as MOOCs, open education resources or OER and mobile devices. In the early years when my organization the Commonwealth of Learning or CALL was first established, member states put a special emphasis on higher education. Even when this sector became unfashionable with many development agencies, CALL continued its focus on the development of higher education using distance learning and technologies because we believe with Professor Mahmood Mamdani, a former Macarena University professor that, and I quote, if your object is to transform general education you have to begin with higher education. For higher education is the strategic heart of education. It is where choices are developed, unquote. And on that note let me wish you all a very memorable and productive conference. Thank you very much.