PM Yingluck welcomed Dr. Touré to Thailand and thanked ITU for selecting Thailand as the host country for the Connect Asia-Pacific Summit and ITU Telecom World 2013 to be held in November 2013. According to PM Yingluck, the Thai Government was confident that the Connect Asia-Pacific Summit would be a significant platform for country leaders, ministers, and top executives in the telecommunication industry and ICT both in the global and regional levels would join force in brainstorming on human resources, financial matters, and technical know-hows in order to seek direction for the reduction of disparity on communication and ICT infrastructure, as well as to push forward activities that would accommodate the formation of information society.
The ITU Secretary General thanked the Thai Government for facilitating the establishment of a new ITU office for the Asia-Pacific region, and commended Thailand for its role and participation in ITU activities and operation as a representative country for the Asian country members, particularly its acceptance to host Connect Asia-Pacific Summit and ITU Telecom World 2013
Both parties came to terms that priority should be given to the access of information and communication technology especially by women, girls, and SMEs entrepreneurs which were the groups significant in mobilizing economy and national development. Thailand was hoping that information technology could play an important role in upgrading people’s livelihood through the internet access of diversified information such as on public health, education, and other interesting knowledge in order to create employment and increase personal incomes.