The ITU Telecom World 2019 global telecommunications conference will be held in Budapest; the agreement concerning the organisation of the event was signed on Monday in Budapest by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Minister of State for Security Policy Péter Sztáray and Secretary-General of the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Houlin Zhao.

Following the signing ceremony, Mr. Zhao stressed: Hungary is one of the ITU’s founding members and Budapest has already hosted a successful ITU Telecom World conference in 2015. Some 5-6 thousand business representatives from 130 countries, over 200 government and industry leaders, and some 30-50 ministers are expected to attend the meeting, which will be held on 9-12 September this year, he told the press.

“The Hungarian Government was glad to undertake the organisation of the ITU Telecom World 2019 conference, and the number of participating countries already indicates the significance of the meeting”, Péter Sztáray said. “The event will be held at the Hungexpo Budapest Fair Center, where an exhibition will also be held parallel to the conference, which will be free to the public”, he added.

The ITU Secretary-General listed cloud-based solutions, intelligent cities, the internet of things (IoT) and 5G development ad the main topics of the ITU Telecom World 2019 conference. “Central topics will also include joint innovation, artificial intelligence (AI), and digital financial solutions”, he continued. He said he welcomes the stability and dependability that characterises Hungary, which in the current environment is a rarity. He thanked Hungary for hosting the event. ”Innovation has a great tradition in Hungary”, he stressed.

Mr. Zhao said the country’s innovation initiatives and guidelines, including the 5G coalition and programmes to facilitate innovation by SMEs, were progressive. He also spoke about the fact that the conference is being held during a critical period in which half the world uses the internet, but the other half doesn’t, and the inclusion of these regions into innovation is important.

Mr. Sztáray told reporters that the main topics of the event will be innovation and connectivity, explaining that the expo will be a good opportunity for Hungarian small and medium-sized businesses to present themselves globally, where young innovators will also be given an opportunity. He said the involvement of cross-border Hungarians was important, and announced that some 800-1000 cross-border Hungarian university students, young entrepreneurs and experts will be receiving funding to attend the event. He expressed his hope that the ITU will be providing all of the necessary support required for the hosting of the conference, as received with relation to the conference held four years ago.

The Minister of State congratulated Houlin Zhao on his reappointment as Secretary-General, which the Hungarian Government also supported. He said this was also favourable with relation to the organisation of the ITU Telecom World 2019 conference, in view of the fact that Hungary will be able to host the global conference “with an old friend and dependable partner”.

The ITU Telecom World conference is the most important info-communications event for governments, enterprises and SMEs, which brings together developed and developing markets, public and private sector leaders, and representatives of the info-communications technology sector while providing a unique international platform. The ITU is the United Nations’ most important global institution operating within the field of telecommunications, and is tasked with facilitating international telecommunications cooperation; Hungary is one of the founding members of the telecommunications union, which has 193 member states. In 2018, Hungary was elected into the ITU’s decision-making body, the 48-member council.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)