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SPEECH BY

YANG BERHORMAT

PEHIN ORANG KAYA HAMZAH PAHLAWAN

DATO SERI SETIA AWANG HAJI ABDULLAH

 BIN BEGAWAN MUDIM DATO PADUKA HAJI BAKAR

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS,

BRUNEI DARUSSALAM

AT

THE OPENING CEREMONY OF THE

ASEAN SPECIAL TELSOM MEETING

WEDNESDAY,

   17 SYAABAN 1434 / 26 JUNE 2013, 9:00 am

 GOLDSTONE BALLROOM, CENTREPOINT HOTEL,

BRUNEI DARUSSALAM

Mr Philip Varilla, as Chairman of the ASEAN Special TELSOM

Yang Mulia Awang Abdul Mutalib bin Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Setia Dato Paduka Haji Mohd Yusof, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Communications, Brunei Darussalam

Yang Mulia Awang Haji Idris bin Haji Mohd Ali, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Communications,

ASEAN TELSOM Leaders, Distinguished ASEAN delegates and representatives of ASEAN Secretariat

Invited Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen.

Assalamu’alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh and a very good morning,

1.   It gives me great pleasure to welcome all of you to Brunei Darussalam. The last time we hosted the ASEAN TELSOM Joint Working Group Meeting (JWG) was back in 2010. So to meet up again with long-time friends and colleagues from the ASEAN TELSOM circle is indeed very delightful.I also see new faces among the ASEAN TELSOM delegates today.I warmly welcome you to ASEAN TELSOM and to Brunei Darussalam.

2.   It is also very timely for Brunei Darussalam to host the ASEAN TELSOM Joint Working Group Meeting and the ASEAN Special TELSOM as Brunei Darussalam is the Chair of ASEAN for 2013.With ASEAN Summit’s theme of “Our People, Our Future Together”, I hope that ASEAN TELSOM can embark on practical approaches towards ICT development for the benefit and future of our ASEAN community.

3.   ASEAN is strategically located in a vibrant region.International Telecommunication Union (ITU) estimated that the Asia Pacific region accounts for nearly 900million mobile broadband subscribers[1].In 2011, ICT is a growing sector which employs more than 11.7 million people in ASEAN.ICT also contributes to more than US$32 billion or more than 3% to ASEAN’s Gross Domestic Product in 2011.This is expected to increase further by the year 2015.[2]Therefore, I believe that ICT has a pivotal role in achieving the ASEAN Economic Community by 2015.

4.   In line with the theme of the ASEAN Summit, ICT can certainly improve the quality of lives and the future of our people. In this regard, I must also congratulate the ASEAN TELSOM and ASEAN Joint Working Group for coming up with projects and activities that have contributed to the region’s development.  With projects covering wide areas ranging from disaster risk management to e-society, innovation, e-government and private sector development, we can see that ICT plays a vital role in improving and facilitating our lives, professionally and personally.  

5.   For Brunei Darussalam, we are honoured to lead the ASEAN ICT Innovation Awards and ASEAN CIO Forum projects. We are strongly committed in ensuring the success of the projects that we have been entrusted with as well as to other ASEAN TELSOM projects.

6.   With the wide range of areas covered under these projects, Brunei Darussalam regards its involvement in ASEAN TELSOM with serious attention.We see that ASEAN TELSOM initiatives are among the contributing factors in Brunei Darussalam’s drive towards a Smart Society.The development in ICT brought by ASEAN TELSOM has encouraged innovation, fruitful collaborations and created new opportunities among our ICT stakeholders.I hope that as we move towards 2015, we can further realize ICT progress to achieve social and economic transformation in the ASEAN region.

7.   Among the initiatives which we can tap on as we move towards a Smart Society are enhancing public and citizen participation, improving governance in both public and private sectors, and utilizing ICT for better management of utilities, resources and flows of movement.In our perspective, all of these share a common feature, that is, leveraging on ICT innovation to improve efficiency.This is indeed the underlying factor in all of the ASEAN TELSOM projects.

8.   We have observed that several countries have embarked on their strategies towards a Smart Society.Brunei Darussalam refers to regional and international best practices, especially when it comes to trends and development in the ICT industry.These references and observations are later customized to our local environment, in the forms of policy and regulatory frameworks.In this regard, I wish to share with you several recent developments in our local ICT industry:-

i.   First, on 15^th July 2012, His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam consented to a budget of B$230million or about $180million USD for the Ministry of Communications to implement a nationwide broadband initiative through Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH). This will enable nationwide connectivity and is a step towards realizing our vision of a Smart Society and enhancing our national competitiveness;

ii.   Second, also in 2012, His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam has consented for the transfer of regulatory function of multimedia industry from the Ministry of Communications to our ICT regulator, the Authority for Info-communications Technology Industry (AITI).Through a converged regulator, the growth of a more dynamic and progressive local ICT and multimedia industry can be achieved; and

iii.   Third, fourth-generation long-term evolution (4G LTE) licences which will be awarded to local network operators soon. This would see the deployment and commercialisation of next generation mobile broadband services in Brunei Darussalam.This development will further complement the roll-out of FTTH in improving the connectivity at both urban and rural areas.

Distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen,

9.   We are also fortunate to have the ASEAN ICT Masterplan 2015 (AIM 2015) to guide us in our effort to achieve our objectives.With AIM2015, we are assured that our plans and initiatives are in line with the collective aspirations of ASEAN.In fact, the Strategic Thrusts of AIM 2015, namely Economic Transformation, People Empowerment and Engagement, Innovation, Infrastructure Development, Human Capital Development and Bridging Digital Divide encapsulate the strategic components towards the formation of smart societies, not only in Brunei Darussalam, but also for ASEAN.We, in Brunei Darussalam, find AIM2015 particularly useful as it serves as a guiding framework for ICT.I am sure that it does so for other ASEAN member countries.In this regard, I strongly suggest that all of us in ASEAN are able to apply the Strategic Thrusts and components of the AIM2015.Amongst the many applications that we should be cognizant of are regulatory issues touching on big data analytics and intelligence, social media and its implications as well as content regulation.

10.   With that in mind, I wish to reiterate our support in ensuring the success of ASEAN TELSOM projects.In moving forward, I am confident that ASEAN TELSOM will continue its approach of being adaptive to trends, technologies and needs of our people. With the rapid changes in ICT trends and technologies, we need to stay focused on our vision but yet receptive to new ideas and facilitative to new methods.Therefore, let us strengthen our collaborations with the various stakeholders, be it private sector, NGOs, academias and research groups, from within and outside the region.These collaborations are crucial in our efforts to realize the vision of AIM 2015 “Towards an Empowering and Transformational ICT: Creating an Inclusive, Vibrant and Integrated ASEAN”.

11.   To conclude, I wish all of you a productive meeting ahead of you.I am confident that the meeting will deliver promising outcomes for Ministers to consider in the next ASEAN TELMIN meeting in Singapore later this year.I look forward to such outcome.In the meantime, I also hope that you will enjoy our warm hospitality and have a wonderful stay in Brunei Darussalam. I also hope that all of you will have the opportunity to visit some of the interesting places in Bandar Seri Begawan.

With that, Wabillahi Taufik Walhidayah, Wasalamu Alaikum Warrah Matullahi Wabarakatuh.  Thank you.