Madam Chairperson,

1. I have the honor to speak on behalf of the Group of 77 and China on agenda item 17 entitled "Information and communication technologies for development".

2. The Group expresses its appreciation to the Secretary-General for the various documents submitted under this important agenda item, namely A/65/64-E/2010/12, A/65/78-E/2010/68 and A/65/276. These documents will certainly inform our deliberations.

Madam Chairperson,

3. In the world of today information and communication technologies are, indeed, vital to developing countries' participation in the global economy and for helping to harness the benefits of globalization. They hold tremendous potential not only for eradication of poverty and promotion of socio-economic development but also for bridging the ever widening technological divide between developing and developed countries. ICT is assuming an increasingly prominent role in promoting development.

 4. Although significant advances in new technologies in recent year have undergone explosive growth, for the majority of the poor the developmental promise of science and technology including information and communication technologies remains unfulfilled.

5. The Group of 77 and China stresses that a development-oriented information society is in the best interest of humanity. ICTs have proven instrumental to the socio-economic progress achieved by many countries, in both the developed and developing world. It is vital, however, to promote transfer of such technologies to developing countries in order to enable dissemination of such technologies within developing countries.

Madam Chairperson,

6. The World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) was held to address the challenge of the digital divide facing developing countries. The Group of 77 and China remains hopeful that the full and effective implementation of both the Geneva and Tunis phases of the WSIS will deliver the desired results to developing countries from information and communication technologies. The information society, therefore, should be seen as an important phase and requirement for achieving the developmental objectives by bridging both the digital and the development divides.

7. The Group of 77 and China takes note of the report of the Broadband Commission for Digital Development by ITU and UNESCO which calls for broadband-friendly practices and policies towards attainment of the internationally agreed development goals, including the MDGs, to ensure that the potential of broadband connectivity and content are at the service of development.

Madam Chairperson,

8. The Internet in recent years has become a very important source of information. There are more than 1.9 billion Internet users in the world today.

9. The Group of 77 and China attaches great importance to the Internet Governance Forum and thus supports its continuation for a further five years. The forum, through its multi stakeholder nature, has proven to be very useful in providing a framework for an open dialogue on public policy issues related to the internet among all concerned parties. It has a very positive impact on the cooperation and dialogue on policy issues related to the internet at the national and regional levels, including through the establishment of regional Internet governance forums.

10. The Group looks forward to the report of the working group of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development which would seek to compile and review inputs on improvements to the Internet Governance Forum. The Group stresses, in this respect, that the establishment of such working group should be in an open and inclusive manner, in accordance with ECOSOC resolution 2010/2, in order to allow all parties to contribute to the work of this working group.

11. It is also the view of the Group of 77 and China that further attention should be given to enhancing the participation of relevant stakeholders from developing countries in all future meetings of the IGF.

Madam Chairperson,

12. In conclusion, we are convinced that the large gaps that remain in access to and affordability of information and communications technologies must be closed. There is a need to upgrade the quality and quantity of existing telecommunication infrastructure in developing countries. It is the view of the Group that for developing countries to be able to benefit from information and communication technologies a greater emphasis should be placed on reducing the cost of such technologies, including the cost of broadband connections; and on capacity-building for greater use and application in the developing world.

I thank you.