With the High‑Level Participation of

Dr Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava took office as Director of the Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on 1 January 2023.

With more than 30 years in telecommunications, including over 20 years in ITU’s Development Sector, Dr Zavazava has promoted and implemented impactful information and communication technology projects around the world.
Prior to his election as BDT Director, he served as ITU’s Chief of Partnerships for Digital Development, overseeing development-related projects, strategic partnerships, and resource mobilization between 2019 and 2022, while launching new initiatives that have boosted the engagement of industry, private-sector, and academia members in ITU’s work.

From 2010 until 2019, he was Chief of the Projects and Knowledge Management, responsible for ITU’s project portfolio, statistics, capacity building, and emergency telecommunications activities, as well as coordinating special assistance to least developed countries (LDCs), landlocked developing countries (LLDCs), and small island developing states (SIDS).

Previously, as ITU’s Chief of Projects and Initiatives, he oversaw development projects focused on gender, youth, and people with special needs, along with capacity building, emergency telecommunications, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and e-waste management.

Earlier, Dr Zavazava headed the Republic of Zimbabwe’s Government Telecommunications Agency and served as a senior diplomat. He also taught MBA classes at the UK’s Nottingham Trent University.
Throughout his career, he has focused on closing the digital and skills divide and accelerating digital transformation to achieve socio-economic development for all.
Dr Zavazava holds a PhD in Multilateral Trade from Business School Lausanne (Switzerland), and a Master of Laws degree in Telecommunications and Information Technology from the University of Strathclyde (UK), as well as a Master’s in International Relations from Webster University (US), and an MBA from the University of Zimbabwe. He also holds a Bachelor’s in Business Administration and diplomas in Telecommunications and Systems Engineering.

H.E. SOK Puthyvuth, born in 1980 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, is a prominent leader in Cambodia’s development. He studied in the United States, earning a BA in Economics and Business with a minor in Computer Science. After working in banking in London, he returned to Cambodia in 2005, where he joined Kampuchea Tela Co. Ltd. and later founded SOMA Group in 2007, focusing on agriculture, education, and infrastructure.

He became president of the Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF) in 2014, uniting rice industry stakeholders to improve the sector and the livelihoods of farmers. He was re-elected in 2016 and contributed to drafting the 2017-2025 rice policy. In 2014, he also became president of the ICT Federation of Cambodia, aiming to advance the nation’s digital transformation.

He served as Under Secretary of State and later Secretary of State at the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. In 2018, he became Chairman of Telecom Cambodia, and later contributed to Cambodia’s Digital Government Policy, which was approved in 2022. His leadership helped Cambodia become the first nation to promote the digital revolution with support from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), aligning with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Mr. Masanori Kondo, Secretary General of the APT, brings to his post over 25 years of eminent experience and expertise both in national and international stage.
Before joining APT, Mr. Kondo had long tenure with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC), Japan. His international experiences include working as a diplomat at the Japanese Embassy in Jordan (1996-1999), and as a policy maker for bilateral and multilateral issues for G7, OECD, APEC, ITU etc. (2002-04, 2008-2014). He also implemented many projects under PPP in ICT field and collaborated with many international organizations and private sectors.
Mr. Kondo holds B.A. in Economics from Keio University in Japan and MSc. in Economics from the London School of Economics (LSE) in the United Kingdom. He was also a visiting scholar at Harvard University (Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, 2003-04) in the United States.

Dr.Sarana Boonbaichaiyapruck currently serves as the chairman of National Broadcasting & Telecommunications Commissioner of Thailand.

He has a strong background as a cardiologist in Academic Medicine.

His most recent post was the deputy dean at Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University.

Sarana was born and raised in Bangkok. He went to Assumption College for secondary school. He got his medical degree from Chulalongkorn University. After medical school he enrolled in the Residency Training in Internal Medicine at LA county/USC medical center and Fellowship in Cardiology at Kaiser Parmanente Hospital, both of which were in Los Angles. He got additional years of training in interventional cardiology at the Hospital of the Good Samaritan Los Angeles.

He returned to Thailand in 1993 and has established cardiac intervention services at Ramathibodi Hospital where he has worked until April 2022. He has a passion in teaching medicine and challenging young physicians, from students to fellows, is part of his art. He worked his way up in Academia and proudly received his Clinical Professorship in 2018.

Apart from medicine and cardiology he was selected to enact new and revise old laws at the National legislative Assembly. Because of his experience in Science, Legislation and in consumer protection such as medical device suitability and his study work on hospital expenses he was picked by the selection committee to be NBTC commissioner and later received the royal endorsement to be NBTC Chair