 Since this is my first time to attend and speak at an ITU plenipotentiary meeting, may I first of all acknowledge the traditional owners of Dubai on whose land we are privileged to hold this meeting. Excellency Chairman, Secretary-General, Colleague Ministers, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, Congratulations Chair for being elected as Chairman of the ITU Plenipotentiary Meeting 2018. I bring warm greetings to all of you from the government and people of Solomon Islands. It is both an honor and pleasure for me and my delegation to be here at this plenipotentiary meeting 2018, and I would like to convey my sincere gratitude to the people and government of the United Arab Emirates the Dubai Authority and ITU for convening this important meeting of its member state, a splendid and beautiful city of Dubai. Solomon Islands have experienced challenges in our telecommunication developments, but at the same time we appreciate the benefits and opportunities that ICT has provided in terms of social and economic developments. Despite the challenges and implications of the evolutions of the telecommunication technology, Solomon Islands will continue to pursue and embrace this phenomena in collaboration with ITU, other member states and stakeholders, to ensure that this vibrant and fast-changing sector will continue to harness and maximize ICT connectivity and services for all our citizens in the future. I am optimistic that technical support and advice will continue to be provided by ITU. The cooperation between ITU and my government are important. With many issues including geographical isolation, vulnerability to natural disaster, climate change, sea level rise and the cost of rolling out telecommunication technology to rural areas, Solomon Islands and many Pacific Island countries are in the cold front of many of these challenges. Solomon Islands will have its first undersea optic fiber cable late next year 2019, and on this note I would like to sincerely thank Australia for their valuable support in this regard. While we look forward to having a fast and affordable internet, it also amplifies issues that we as government need to develop policies and legislations on to address issues like cyber security and data protection. Solomon Islands is now implementing policies and has begun reviewing current legislations with the view of developing legislations to govern the challenges and digital divide that we are grappling with. Hence, Mr Chairman, having said all of the above, Solomon Islands came to this meeting with the mandate to ensure that those we vote for at this ITU election will be able to provide the much needed service to such small island states as ours. Too often the small island states in the Pacific are left behind because of our remoteness, our smallness and our distance further away from ITU in Geneva. Mr Chairman, when it comes to voting, Solomon Islands has one vote as the rest of the ITU member states, but when it comes to the challenge of telecommunication technology, our issues are many and we are sometimes left behind. It is my call that those that will be elected into ITU positions to manage, administer and implement ITU policies in the next four years to keep its outreach programme and assistance available and to continue effectively to provide capacity building and institutional strengthening to curb some of the challenges that we in the small island states in the Pacific region faces with regards to ICT and achieving our SDGs. ITU needs to stay focused on its core functions and the ITU goals so that small island states like Solomon Islands is not left behind. In closing Mr Chairman, I would like to wish all the member states and ITU candidates a successful, a success in the plenipotentiary meeting and the upcoming election and I look forward to the consensus outcomes that will strengthen ITU resolve to achieve its mandate with corporations from all its member states. Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you one and all.