Prime Minister's Court President meets ITU Secretary General

Geneva, Aug. 18 (BNA): Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Houlin Zhao underlined the outstanding status of His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa in the international scene. The praise came at a work meeting in Geneva today between Prime Minister’s Court President Shaikh Hussam bin Isa Al Khalifa and his accompanying delegation and the ITU Secretary General and senior officials. The meeting convened as part of preparations to present HRH the Premier with the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Sustinable Development Award. The ITU Secretary General described the honour as a tribute to HRH the Premier for his contribution to promoting the union’s work and developing Bahrain’s ICT infrastructure. He also expressed keenness on HRH the Premier’s personal presence in the celebration which will be held by ITU at the UN headquarters in New York on September 26 marking its 150th anniversary. He also stressed the paramount importance given by Arab mass media to the award, which sheds light on the role played by ITU at the international level. He added granting the highly prestigious prize to HRH the Prime Minister is an incentive for other governments to take Bahrain as a model in the ICT field. He also lauded Bahrain’s distinguished regional standing in this field, pointing out the kingdom’s hosting of an international forum for telecommunication organisers in 2013 under the patronage of HRH the Premier. He said Bahrain was able to meet the criteria of the award which is granted for the first time to a Prime Minister. On his part, Shaikh Hussam conveyed the greetings of HRH the Prime Minister to ITU, stressing appreciation of the international organisations of Bahrain’s development efforts which earned HRH the Premier many top honours.