Hosting ITU in a palace of dialogue: Q&A with PP-22 Chair Sabin Sărmaș

By ITU News

As the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference (PP-22) opened in Bucharest, we caught up with Sabin Sărmaș, PP-22 Chair and head of Romania’s parliamentary Information Technology and Communications Commission.

How has PP-22 and hosting this global conference of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) compared to your expectations, and how has your experience as chair of such an important event been so far?

When it comes to my country, I am very demanding, and I have very high expectations. But what my colleagues from the regulatory institution (ANCOM – the National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications) managed to prepare for the thousands of delegates that are now here in Romania is beyond my expectation. They did a great job, and you can see this in the eyes of the delegates who are here at the building every day.

Regarding how I feel as chair, we started the conference very well and in a successful manner. This is important, because a good start is going to increase the chances of having a fruitful conference here in Romania.

This event is possible because of the preparation process we went through during the last year – me, my team, Romania, and all the member states that joined interregional meetings and dialogue. That’s why I am very confident, and that’s why we had such a good start.

You mention the delegates. Obviously, you have been in a lot of conversations here. I wanted to find out what’s the feedback been like that you’ve received so far.

They are impressed, honestly impressed. I am not that surprised about this, because we are in the second biggest civilian building in the world, and it’s a palace – Bucharest’s Palace of Parliament.

This presence is influencing the way that the people are behaving in here.

One can notice a serious openness of the other delegations to have a good and productive dialogue in this setting.

I wanted to ask you about the information and communication technology (ICT) sector here in Romania. Do you think it will be affected by this conference, and if so, how?

You cannot imagine how much interest this conference has raised here in Bucharest. Now everyone is asking on social media and the Internet: How can I attend?

We organized a side event for Romanian industry – a parliamentary and private-sector forum – to have a dialogue between the public sector and private-sector companies that have international representation here in Romania.

The ICT sector here in Romania has started to ask: What is ITU about? Which are the opportunities? How can we engage?

The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Image credit: Daniel Woldu/ITU

Check out the full interview with Sabin Sărmaș here: