Hon David Cunliffe

Pacific communications ministers set bold agenda

Pacific Islands Forum communications ministers have set an ambitious but achievable agenda that should lift the pace of ICT development in the region, says Communications Minister David Cunliffe.

At a meeting in Wellington today chaired by Mr Cunliffe, the forum ministers adopted a declaration aimed at promoting information and communications technology in the region.

"This is a clear statement of ministerial support urging forum leaders to accelerate ICT development in their countries and the region," Mr Cunliffe said.

The Wellington Declaration, subject to ratification by forum leaders at their next meeting in Tonga later this year, sets up a task force for key regional projects including:

Investigating the joint purchasing of satellite bandwidth to reduce costs to individual countries.

- Building regulatory and development capability at a national level.

- A commitment to work together on a regional approach to fight spam.

- Ensuring all regional government agencies have access to email and a website.

Forum communications ministers took the opportunity to meet in Wellington at the same time as the international ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) meeting being held this week.

ENDS

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