 Mr. President, President Kagame of Rwanda, Minister Choi Munki, Minister of Future Planning, and ICT of Korea, Mr. Carlos Limelu, President for Grupo Carso, my dear colleagues, Huling Zhao, Deputy Secretary-General, Mr. Francois Ranci, Director of BR, Mr. Malcolm Johnson, Director of TSB, Mr. Brahimassanu, Director of BDT, my dear colleague, Michel Jaro, Director-General of WMO, my dear colleague, Michel Sidiwe, Director-General of Onisida, dear former elected officials of ITU, Mr. Jean Degap, former Deputy Secretary-General of ITU, you are present in this room, former Director of BDT Ahmed Lawyan, former Director of BR, Mr. Valérie Timofiev, Chairman of ITU Council Abu Bakar Zumba, and Vice-Chairman Mr. Min, dear counselors, Ministers, Ambassadors, dear colleagues and friends, Excellencies, it gives me great pleasure to welcome you to this ceremony on World Telecommunication and Information Society Day. As you know, we celebrate this annually on 17 May to mark the founding of ITU in 1865. This year is the 149th anniversary of the Union, which analysts have quite rightfully recognized as one of the most resilient organizations in the world. Ladies and gentlemen, we are celebrating this event just one day after having concluded the last ITU Council for the cycle in preparation for the ITU Plain Potentially Conference that will be held in Busan, Republic of Korea, from 20 October until 7 November this year. I take this opportunity to thank ITU Council members for their presence here at this ceremony. Today, as our 193 member states, our 700 or so of private companies and all our partners and well-wishers in the ICT industry, as well as people around the world celebrate this day, we also recognize three eminent personalities who have contributed tremendously to the growth and development of ICT and broadband. Let me congratulate the laureates of this year's World Telecommunication and Information Society Award, who have been honored in recognition of their leadership and dedication toward promoting information and communication technology development and broadband connectivity as a means of achieving sustainable development. I welcome His Excellency President Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda, His Excellency Mr. Choi Moon-Kee, Minister of Science, ICT, and Future Planning, as the representative of Her Excellency Ms. Park Gunhee, President of the Republic of Korea, and Mr. Carlos Limiello, Chairman of Grupo Carso and President of the Carlos Lim Foundation. Ladies and gentlemen, this year, for World Telecommunication and Information Society Day, we highlight the theme, Broadband for Sustainable Development, as adopted by ITU Council in 2013. Our distinguished laureates are among the greatest champions of broadband in the world. They have supported our work with tremendous zeal and together. We have accomplished a lot, particularly in highlighting the key role ICTs and broadband play in the global economy, as well as in leveraging sustainable development. President Kagame, President Park, and Carlos Limiello are recognized today for their leadership and dedication toward promoting ICTs and broadband connectivity as a means of achieving sustainable development. Their presence here is an inspiration for all of us and to our global audience, for whom high-speed connectivity has opened new avenues to communicate anytime, anywhere, with friends, family, colleagues, and even things. And as we enter the era of machine-to-machine communications, as you know, President Paul Kagame and Carlos Limiello are the two coaches of the United Nations Broadband Commission for Digital Development. Together, they have placed this important agenda on the world map and have convinced member states at the United Nations, as well as experts academics and citizens elsewhere, that broadband and ICTs are critical for the future of our planet. Ladies and gentlemen, the right to communication is central to the information society we live in. It is a key principle for equitable, affordable, and universal access to information and knowledge that, in turn, empowers people to meet their aspiration and achieve their development goals. The right to communicate is, in fact, the motivating factor and an impetus that drives us from the information society we live in today to the knowledge society that we are dreaming of, that we are entering to. For nearly 150 years, ITU has been the one single organization devoted to making it possible for people everywhere, wherever they live, wherever they may be, whenever and whatever their circumstances, even in the remotest corners of the world, to communicate. And it has been an endeavor to support the telecommunication and ICT industry with the latest, most advanced standards that are interoperable globally so that everyone has access to state-of-the-art information and communication technologies. We have been doing this since our inception, since the days of the telegraph. And today, what a revolution we have seen. Even 10 years ago, we could not have imagined what we could do today at the click of a fingertip. Ladies and gentlemen, broadband connectivity is a critical element in ensuring that ICTs are used as effective delivery vehicle for health, education, governance, trade, and commerce in order to achieve sustainable socioeconomic growth. ITU is therefore committed to achieving universal access to broadband connectivity and to foster the political will needed to achieve this objective. It is now well-recognized that digital inclusion is a transformative tool to fast-track sustainable development. In order to realize its full potential, it is essential to roll out high-speed broadband networks, making it affordable as well as universally accessible. In this respect, ITU and the Broadband Commission for Digital Development are at the forefront of advocating the rollout of broadband, which is today the world's economic engine, as well as the catalytic agent, to leverage sustainable development for the future well-being of our planet and its inhabitants. I choose commitment to push the broadband agenda for sustainable development, highlights the dual goals of supporting the development of mobile broadband and the continued rollout of fixed-line technologies while meeting the global challenges of our times, such as combatting climate change. As we embark on the post-2015 development agenda and set out more ambitious and inclusive goals to make the world a better place, we need to ensure that we have the necessary tools and mechanisms in place to make it a reality. Ladies and gentlemen, broadband-based ICT networks are powerful cross-cutting enablers to achieve the three pillars of sustainable development, economic growth, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability. We must therefore commit ourselves in the service of humanity to make broadband the central element of the post-2015 sustainable development agenda. I call upon our partners and all of you gathered here today to identify key gaps in broadband research and development, infrastructure, and package development of applications and services. Define policy priorities for action in the areas of allocating radio frequency spectrum for broadband, universal access obligations, and innovative financing mechanisms, and to seek leading-edge technological solutions, particularly in the extension of broadband access to rural areas, as Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon just said. And especially for least-developed countries and small island-developing states. Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, let us put our resources together to harness the catalytic role of ICTs in achieving sustainable development. It is the key to ensuring a better future for all. I thank you.