Sri Lanka to host global symposium for telecom regulators in Oct.

The Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR) of the ITU is scheduled to be held from 1 to 4 October, at the Colombo Hilton Hotel.

It is an unique high profile global event intended to share and exchange information among National Regulatory Authorities from both developed and developing countries and key ICT stakeholders on regulatory subjects and related issues.

Since 2007 up to 2011, several GSR had been held in UAE, Senegal, Lebanon, Thailand and last year in Colombia.

The inaugural GSR was launched in year 2000. The Symposium fosters an open dialogue among regulators and with key ICT stakeholders. The GSR is an annual event of the ITU which is organised in collaboration with the National Regulatory Authority of the host country.

TRCSL Director General Anusha Palpita signed the ‘Host Country Agreement’ on 27 February in Geneva on behalf of Sri Lanka. Telecommunication Development Bureau Director Brahima Sanou signed the Agreement, on behalf of the ITU.

GSR attracts around 500 participants from ITU’s 193 Member States, stakeholders and dignitaries including Telecom Ministers.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is the UN specialised agency responsible for Telecommunications/Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Its membership comprises 193 Governments and over 700 private companies providing telecommunications/ICT services. Sri Lanka has been closely associated with ITU in several areas of activity and highly values its membership in ITU. Sri Lanka today is making rapid progress in many sectors of economic development particularly in the telecommunications field. It is bubbling with enthusiasm to attain a level of recognition that its friends and well-wishers would endearingly call as the ‘Wonder of Asia’.

This prestigious global event is bound to elevate the country’s image and tourism sector and encourage more foreign direct investment in the country.