Hon’ble Minister, Karma Donnen Wangdi, Minister of Information and Communications, Royal Government of Bhutan​, attended the opening ceremony and the leadership dialogue of the ITU Regional Development Forum for Asia and the Pacific which was held virtually on 2nd November, 2020 at 11:00 AM (BST). The leadership dialogue was also attended by:
1) H.E. Mr. Bob Loughman Weibur, Prime Minister, Vanuatu
2) H.E. Mr. Abdul Halim Iskandar, Minister of Villages, Development, Advantaged Regions and Transmigration, Republic of Indonesia
3) H.E. Mr. Mustafa Jabbar, Minister of Posts, Telecommunications & IT, Bangladesh
4) H.E. Shafqat Mahmood, Ministry of Federal Education, and Professional Training, Pakistan
5) H.E. Mr. Johnny Gerard Plate, Minister of Communication and Informatics, Republic of Indonesia
6) Ms. Bolor-Erdene Battsengel, Chairwoman of CITA, Mongolia
7) Ms Areewan Horangsi, Secretary General Asia Pacific telecommunity
8)Mr Woochong Um, Director General Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department, Asian Development Bank (ADB)
The session was moderated by Ms. Doreen Bogdan Martin, Director, BDT, ITU. The theme of the leadership dialogue was “Cross-sectoral collaboration to drive digital development and progress towards SDGs.”
The Hon'ble Minister talked about how the Royal Government of Bhutan has prioritized ICT development, with the vision of: “An ICT-Enabled, Knowledge Society, as a foundation for Gross National Happiness.” and also covered the e-Government policy of the country.
H.E delivered how Bhutan under the ICT sectors has tackled COVID-19 situation with support from the TSPs (Telecom Service Providers) by providing special discounts on mobile data packages for students, and also revising the mobile data package rates for the general public.
H.E also shared that the Government has developed several online systems such as DrukTrace App and Druk Trace Mobile App, Check Post Management System, Health Facility System, Essential Goods Monitoring System, Quarantine Management and Security System, and the Economic and Preparedness System to deal with the COVID-19 situation.