Sri Lanka to host major international telecom conferences

Colombo, April 19 (Xinhua-ANI): Sri Lanka is to host Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in October, a government spokesman said on Thursday.

Cabinet spokesman Lakshman Yapa Abeywardana told media around 500 participants from ITU's 192 members including telecommunication ministers and over 700 private companies are expected to attend the event scheduled for Oct. 3-5.

"GSR of ITU is a unique high level global event to share and exchange information among national regulatory authorities from both developed and developing countries," Abeywardana said.

"The ITU is the UN specialized agency responsible for telecommunication information and communication technology and the event would give a boost to the development of country's telecommunication industry," he said.

In parallel to the GSR, Global Industry Leaders Forum, another international event related to telecommunication and information, is to be held with the participation of chief executives from the information and communication technology enterprises to debate the latest obstacles to its development.

The spokesman said Poland had also offered to host the two events but ITU selected Sri Lanka as the host of the two events, supposedly because of its close association with ITU.

Sri Lanka has been working with the ITU since 1897 and from 2010 the country holds the chairmanship of Commonwealth Telecommunication Organization. (Xinhua-ANI)