The Arab Economic and Financial Forum on Telecommunications kicked off here on Sunday to shed light on promoting communication technologies as they are important cornerstones in the advancement of modern economies.
The aim of the forum is to place the Middle East region on the map of modern communication and to facilitate closeness in digital networking among world countries to allow universal access that would lead to the creation of an information society Undersecretary at Ministry of Communications Hameed Al-Qatan stressed the importance of making information and data accessible to individuals for better social, health, economic and academic conditions.
He added that the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has encouraged through its regional presence to use new and emerging technologies since they have a significant impact on the expansion of telecommunications and have the potential to close the gap not only between developing and developed countries, but also between urban, remote and rural areas and between well-served and underserved areas within a country.
He expressed hope that this forum would create an opportunity to boost telecommunication technologies to better "our economies and societies." The forum is co-organized by ITU and the Ministry of communication. He also lauded efforts made by various local and Arab telecommunication bodies to make this event possible.