SL re-elected to chair Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation

Sri Lanka has been re-elected unanimously as Chairman of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) at the 51st Council Meeting held at Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

President’s Secretary Lalith Weeratunga as Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) Chairman was supposed to chair meetings of the council on behalf of Sri Lanka upon its election as Chairman at the 50th Council Meeting held in Colombo in 2010. In the absence of Weeratunga, TRCSL Director General Anusha Palpita chaired the 51st Council Meeting held over the weekend, a statement said. 

Upon Sri Lanka being re-elected to the post of CTO Chairman with strong support from most of the Commonwealth countries, which included the African bloc of nations, Palpita thanked the council.

“I take this opportunity to convey to all of you that we will do our very best to develop and strengthen the CTO and lead the way to achieving greater heights. We look forward to working very closely with the newly-appointed CEO Professor Tim Unwin, who I’m certain has many constructive plans underpinned by a great vision for the progress of the CTO. I also thank the outgoing CEO Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah for his unstinted efforts in successfully steering the CTO to become a global ICT player.”

CTO is the official body which deals with telecommunications and delivers unique knowledge sharing programmes in the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in specific areas of telecommunications, information technology and broadcasting as well as the internet within the Commonwealth countries. CTO assists ICT stakeholders to adapt and live with change, by providing consulting and advisory services.