Speech by ITU Secretary-General, Houlin Zhao
Radiocommunication Assembly (RA-15): Opening Ceremony
26 October 2015, Geneva, Switzerland
Mr Chairman,
Excellencies,
Mr Johnson, Deputy Secretary-General,
Mr Rancy, Director, BR
Mr Sanou, Director, BDT
Mr Lee, Director, TSB,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear colleagues,
It is a privilege and an honour to address you this morning at the opening of the 2015 Radiocommunication Assembly. As for the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-15) that starts next week, the Radiocommunication Assembly represents a landmark in the life of the Radiocommunication Sector of the ITU.
In accordance with the ITU Constitution and Convention, the principal duties of a Radiocommunication Assembly may be summarized as follows:
- to provide the necessary technical bases for the work of World Radiocommunication Conferences and to respond to all requests from such Conferences,
- to consider and refine the working methods and procedures of the Sector, particularly those of the Study Groups,
- to establish future work programmes for the Study Groups,
- to consider Recommendations with a view to their approval.
In responding to these directives, this Assembly once again demonstrates the central role that the Radiocommunication Sector plays in the technological progress of telecommunications. In approving Recommendations and in defining future activities, you are recognizing the rapid changes underway in the global telecommunications environment and reacting in a manner commensurate with its future needs. As each Assembly and World Conference convenes, the issues become more diverse and complex, and in turn, technical solutions require greater innovation and skill. At the same time, although it is the task of WRC-15 to use your material to the best advantage, considerations of regulatory and procedural issues cannot be divorced from the technical studies.
Your charged programme this week has two main themes:
You are asked to review the working methods of the ITU-R Study Groups, the CCV, the RAG, the CPM and the Special Committee, including consideration of their structure, and ensure that they follow efficient and effective practices, commensurate with the budget available.
Secondly, you will be considering future work programmes, recognizing the ever-changing global telecommunications environment in which we are operating.
Your deliberations will need to balance technological needs against those of compatibility between the various services, at the same time seeking innovative means to optimize the use of the frequency spectrum for the good of all. It is here that your work represents such an important contribution to the forthcoming and future World Conferences.
Dear colleagues,
This year ITU is celebrating its 150th anniversary. Throughout this history, the many remarkable achievements of the ITU have been built on the basis of consensus and compromises. I call on you to observe, during this week of the RA, and the following weeks of the WRC, the same spirit of cooperation, compromise and consensus that has always guided the work of this Union.
In all these aspects, I look forward to hearing of your fruitful results at the end of the week and wish to take this opportunity of conveying my best wishes for a successful and enjoyable Assembly.
