ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates & GUADALAJARA, Mexico--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The 18^th Plenipotentiary Conference of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) was inaugurated on Monday (October 4^th-22^nd, 2010) in Guadalajara, Mexico. The UAE is participating in the conference with a high-level delegation headed by UAE Minister of State H.E. Reem Al Hashemi, H.E. UAE Ambassador to Mexico Saeed Rashid Al Za'abi, UAE Permanent Representative to United Nations in Geneva, Ambassador Obaid Salem Al Zaabi, Deputy Director General of Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) H.E. Majid Al Mismar, and other members from TRA, armed forces, Etisalat, du, Thuraya and Yahsat.

H.E. Reem Al Hashimi and the members of the UAE delegation group photo at the conference (Photo: Business Wire)

In a formal meeting of heads of delegations, the UAE was elected unanimously as the conference vice president on behalf of the Arab Group through the selection of Tariq Al-Awadi, Executive Director of the spectrum management and International Affairs in TRA and the President of the Arab group in charge of the preparation of the Plenipotentiary Conference. His election added a new achievement to the UAE record at the International Telecommunication Union conferences.

H.E. Reem Al Hashimi delivered the UAE’s speech to the conference, addressing the importance of this (PP10) as it comes four years after holding the last conference in Turkey in 2006. The speech focused on the topics listed in the conference’s agenda this year and the concerning issues at regional and international levels such as the role and means of communication in climate change, Internet-related issues, supreme policy regarding Internet and secure means of communication, information and protection of children on the Internet, and other topics that will be discussed in the three weeks’ Conference.

H.E. Reem Al Hashemi praised the efforts of the Mexican government in hosting the conference and its hospitality. She also commented on the participation of the UAE in this event, saying: "It is an honor for the UAE government to be nominated for two key positions in the ITU in such a great conference and gathering. The first position is the membership of the (ITU) Council for a second term in addition to the nomination for the first time of one of the TRA engineers for the membership of the Radio Regulation Board (RRB) for the same period."

The UAE delegation hosted a dinner banquet at the Hilton Hotel in honor of the participating delegations in the conference on the occasion of the re-nomination of UAE for the membership of the Council of the International Telecommunications Union for the next four years (2010 - 2014) as well as the nomination of the UAE of Engineer Nasser Abdullatif bin Hammad, Senior Manager International Affairs at the TRA for the membership of the Radio Regulation Board (RRB) for the first time. On this occasion, both HE Reem Al Hashemi and Engineer Nasser bin Hammad gave short speeches welcoming the attendees.

*Source: ME NewsWire

For more information about The Telecommunication Regulatory Authority, please visit our website: www.tra.gov.ae

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