Acting secretary at the Ministry of Information and Communications, Shanker Prasad Koirala, has said that Nepal has already adopted liberal, investment friendly and competition oriented regime in the ICT sector resulting in substantial foreign direct investment.

A press release issued by the Nepal Telecommunications Authority said, addressing the 17th Plenipotentiary conference of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in Antalya, Turkey on Tuesday, Koirala also said that the Government of Nepal considers Information and Communications as the priority sector playing the pivotal role in changing the socio-economic landscape of the countries like Nepal, a country with one of the most difficult terrains in the world.

He further said that in the coming years, emergence of knowledge based economy is not going to be confined to the developed world and the developing countries must be able not only to embrace arrays of new ICT products and services, but also to take benefit from the on-going technological shift.

More than 2,000 delegates from 191 countries are participating in the Conference, being held from 6th to 24th November 2006.

Regarding the role of ITU, Koirala suggested that the Union should play a bigger role in helping developing countries by means of technical advice and consultations in order to enable them to cope with fast-paced innovations and development in ICT sector.

The Plenipotentiary conference is ITU’s apex policy making body. Held every four years, it sets the Union’s general policies, adopts four-year strategic and financial plans and elects the senior management of the organization: Secretary- General, Deputy Secretary General, Directors of the Bureau, the Council (the Union’s governing body) and the Radio Regulations Board, the statement added.