Mr. President
Mr. Secretary-General
Mr. Assistant Secretary-General
Fellow Ministers and Heads of Delegations
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen

My delegation extends its warmest appreciation to President Leonel Fernández and the Government and people of the Dominican Republic for their exceptional hospitality and generosity. I commend the Government of the Dominican Republic and the OAS for the selection of "Good Governance and Development in a Knowledge -Based Society" as the theme for this Assembly. My delegation views this discourse as both important and timely, given the priority that the Government of Antigua and Barbuda is giving to this issue.

The presentations by the various Heads of Delegations yesterday and today on developing a knowledge-based society are in fact a full recognition of the ability of ICTs to act as catalysts in creating new economic synergies and offering opportunities to overcome the constraints of remoteness, small size, and other factors, which traditionally have acted as a break on development.

The Government of Antigua and Barbuda is fully cognizant of the catalytic effect of ICTs and is determined to use ICTs to provide the necessary impetus to foster economic growth and development in Antigua and Barbuda and to ensure that all citizens and residents can benefit from its prosperity.

The national development and the growth of any economy are now inextricably dependent upon the existence of a vibrant information communications technology industry. This focus on information communication technologies is consistent with one of the recommendations of the Declaration of Mar del Plata, which called on member states to incorporate new information and communication technologies in the training of the citizenry in order to increase prosperity.

Mr. President,

The Government of Antigua and Barbuda is cognizant that a vibrant ICT infrastructure cannot be achieved without the active participation of the private sector. With this in mind, an inaugural technology festival was launched in Antigua and Barbuda, in September, 2005. This festival provided a multidimensional platform for show casing the applicability of the different technologies. One of the cardinal features of this festival was a computer assembly challenge. This challenge was part of the demystification of technology. Imagine a fifteen year old teenager assembling a computer from used parts in less than twenty minutes! This technology festival was also instrumental in consolidating a government/private sector partnership, the results of which we have already begun to realize.

As a further demonstration of the importance the government attaches to ICT, a national ICT policy was developed and its key objectives are based on a "people first" philosophy. Consistent with the ICT policy, I am pleased to indicate that every secondary school is already equipped with a computer laboratory.

In order to further upgrade the intellectual capital of our population, and to increase our competitiveness in the international arena, the Government is providing scholarships to public servants to attend computer training programmes at the Antigua and Barbuda International Institute of Technology, a modern 1000 seat tertiary training institute that specializes in information technology.

In order to encourage investment into Antigua and Barbuda, we have begun to liberalize the telecommunication and information sectors. This liberalization has already resulted in an increase in competition among the telecommunication and technology service providers, and this has already resulted in significant cost reductions for consumers.

Mr. President,

The Government of Antigua and Barbuda has also developed a blue print for the rapid deployment of technology in Antigua and Barbuda. This blue print has resulted in several major goals being attained:

1) There is wireless fidelity (WiFI) technology throughout the island; this is particularly important for the hundreds of thousands of visitors that come to our shores annually.