by Ato Abdurahim Ahmed, Communication Affairs Division Manager at GSTIT International Symposium on ICT Education and Application in Developing Countries.

· Honorable Ministers, Commissioners,
· Distinguished representatives of local and international institutions, universities and organizations.
· H.E Ato Tesfaye Biru, the Ethiopian Telecommunications General Manager.

Honorable participants,

I feel pleasure to welcome you at this special event of International Symposium on ''ICT Education and Application in Developing Countries'' which is organized by the Graduate School of Telecommunications and Information Technology (GSTIT) of the Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation in collaboration with UN Economic Commission for Africa.

GSTIT which will launch a post graduate program in three areas of discipline, namely Telecom Engineering, Information Technology, and Telecom MBA very soon, organizes this International ICT symposium with a firm a belief that a key to meeting the challenges of economic development among other things lies at the heart of charting a pioneering ICT objectives and strategy via continuous research activities, experience sharing, and dialogue between and among IT professionals and researchers abroad and inside the country.

The symposium is expected to be interactive thought provoking and informative on the importance of ICT Education and Application to the development of knowledge based policy options, choices and decision in developing countries.

This three-day symposium which is scheduled to take place from October 19-21,2004 will provide an environment where participants garner information; learn from the latest developments, research outcomes, tools and approaches in the drive to promote the potential contribution of ICT towards economic development.

The symposium is organized into plenary sessions and each topic. A session will have a few papers and a discussion

I would like to request all honorable participants to switch off your cellular telephone during the session. And finally I would like to invite His Excellency Ato Tesfaye Biru, the Ethiopian telecommunications Corporation General Manager to make a keynote address at this special event.

I thank you !

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