The document summarizes a speech given at a summit of Libyan telecom professionals in Tripoli. The speaker discusses Finland's desire to strengthen cooperation with Libya, particularly in rebuilding Libya's telecom sector. They announce that Finland and Libya will sign an MOU on ICT cooperation and that Finland will invite a Libyan business delegation to visit and learn from Finnish ICT leaders. The speaker emphasizes how ICT can drive economic growth in Libya during its reconstruction period.

1. Connecting Libya 2012 – A Summit of top Libyan telecom
Professionals
The Rixos Tripoli, 28th May 2012
Distinguished Minister of Telecommunications,
Dear Participants,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a great pleasure to participate in this summit of top Libyan telecom
professionals. Coming into the room, I'm aware of how we are brought
together by our common interest in the opportunities and challenges of
investing in Libya and helping to rebuild and develop Libyan telecom sector.
But let me start by congratulating the people of Libya who – just a year ago -
relentlessly fought for its freedom and reached a turning point in the history
of the country. Libya is finally free to bring forward its transition to
democracy, rule of law, human rights and social justice. Libya is also nearing
a key moment in its democratic transition with upcoming elections in June.
Although Libyans’ expectations of concrete progress in the post-revolution
period might understandably relate strongest to security, there are also,
amongst ordinary citizens, high expectations to see a coherent process of
rebuilding institutions and laying foundations for a functioning society.
It gives me a particular pleasure to be able to say in this conference that
after many years of absence Finland wants to come back to Libya. During
the last few months, my government has, in various occasions, expressed its
willingness to contribute to reconstruction efforts in Libya and to provide
the necessary expertise and know-how particularly in areas where Finland is
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2. known to have special expertise. Also our companies show increasing
interest in Libya.
This has already led to an active exchange of delegations of experts in
various fields to help Libya. In April, for instance, a Finnish expert team
visited Libya in order to help to assess the needs in the Libyan health sector,
eroded by the civil war. Another team visited Libya to support Libyan
forensic experts to investigate the crimes committed during the war. We are
currently discussing possibilities for co-operation in the field of education
and in supporting the forming of Libyan police.
Very soon, a Libyan delegation will visit Finland to discuss possibilities for co-
operation in housing and city planning, with a particular attention to water
and waste management and environmentally sustainable construction. In all
these sectors, and in many others, Finland is happy to share its expertise
and technological solutions with Libya.
Let me also mention one crucial element for building a solid and well
functioning society; that is the role of the civil society that was very
restricted in Libya under the previous regime. It is indeed a huge challenge
but also an enormous opportunity to transform the energy of the citizens,
all civil society, released by the Revolution, into concrete and efficient work
that contributes to building a new democratic Libya.
Women can play an important role in this process as was expressed by those
Libyan women – many of them candidates in the June elections - who
participated in the Finnish-Libyan workshop held two weeks ago here in
Tripoli which brought together women from the Finnish parliament and the
future women political leaders in Libya.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Libya and Finland share a strong interest in development in general, and in
utilizing the power of information and communication technology in
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3. particular, the theme of today’s meeting. Cooperation on information and
communication technology is a natural continuation of this effort.
Stimulating economic growth is a key imperative for any country – and
especially for a country such as Libya, undergoing a major reconstruction. In
Finland we believe strongly that information and communication technology
(ICT) is a key enabler to economic development. Independent research
shows that 10% increase in Broadband Penetration increases the GDP of a
country by 1.4 % points per year.
Today we can say that electronic communications play a key part in the
Finn’s daily life; 86% of Finns aged between 15 and 79 use the Internet on a
weekly basis. 67% of Finns have made purchases online. Two million
households have broadband connection (of population of 5.3 million). Also
globally, Internet is the most significant source of innovation and growth. It
reaches already two billion people, three billion in 2015, all over the world.
Traffic in Internet grows by 40% per year.
In early 2011 we passed another landmark – the mark of 5 billion mobile
users in the world and today we are roughly at the level of 5.3 billion users.
This makes the mobile technologies the fastest growing technology with the
widest demographic reach in the human history. These figures show that
the development and growth of information society is irreversible and that
we simply cannot afford to not keep up with this development when the
rest of the word is striding ahead.
This growth effect is even stronger in emerging markets. In other words,
broadband networks contribute to economic development, and, therefore,
they should be made widely available – at affordable prices – and should
become an integral part of national development strategies.
Looking at the past, it can be said that telecommunications have
transformed the world we know around us. I'm sure that many of you recall
that the United Nations declared at the end of last year that the seventh
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4. billionth living person on our planet was born. The United Nations
Population Fund said that the baby was born into a 'world of contradiction'.
Whatever the future holds for the young baby, it is clear that innovation will
be a huge transformational force in her life, helping her – and the society
into which she's been born – to overcome the challenges, and seize the
opportunities ahead.
President of Rwanda Paul Kagame has once said that ”In 10 short years,
what was once an object of luxury and privilege, the mobile phone, has
become a basic necessity in Africa.” Libya is in the forefront of this
development with over ten million mobile connections.
ICT is recognized by many as being vital in our societies, because it is a key
enabler for innovation and progress in almost every other area of business.
It's becoming accepted that connectivity is the fourth primary factor of
production, alongside land, labor and capital goods.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The Libyan Information and Telecommunication sector is gearing up to play
a leading role in the modernization initiative for creation of a new and
progressive Libya, and wants to draw on the best technology experiences of
world leading innovators. Finland wants to be a partner in this adventure. I
would like to use this opportunity to announce two concrete steps towards
closer cooperation in this area.
Firstly, recognizing our shared interests and guided by mutually beneficial
cooperation, we have initiated signing of a Memorandum of Understanding
on cooperation in information and communication technology between
Finland and Libya.
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5. As you know, Finland has long been one of the frontrunners in development
and utilization of information and communication technology. Finland has
been repeatedly ranked near the top in World Economic Forum global
competitiveness index as well as in different rankings on the usage of ICT in
private as well as public sector. We have our own challenges, such as rapidly
aging population and continuous pressure on increased productivity to fuel
economic growth. In both examples, ICT plays a key role going forward.
Secondly, The Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland would be honored to
invite a Libyan business delegation visit to Finland in the coming months, in
order to demonstrate to you in person the best Finland has to offer in
information and communication technology by the way of our leading
companies, universities and regulatory initiatives. Ministry for Foreign
Affairs of Finland is the inviting party, while Nokia Siemens Networks has
kindly promised to (cover costs for hotels and transportation in Finland –
thus excluding flight costs between Finland and Libya – and has promised)
host the delegation at its state-of-the-art demo center next to its
headquarters in Espoo, Finland.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
This event today is a tangible token of the co-operation between Finland
and Libya on information and communication technology. May this so-
operation be long-lasting and productive.
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