VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Communication and Informatics Minister Johnny G. Plate invited the Government of Portugal to support Indonesia to become a member of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Council for the 2023-2026 period, representing the Asia-Pacific region.

"We know that Portugal is part of the European Union (EU), (so we have a meeting with Portugal since) we need allies from the members of EU (to support our candidacy),” the Indonesian minister remarked in a press release on Sunday during Plate's working visit to Portugal.

Plate affirmed that his invitation was welcomed by the representative of the Government of Portugal, and there was a high potential for the country to support Indonesia at the ITU Council member election, especially considering the sound relations between both nations.

"Hopefully, they will support us. Considering his gestures and commitments, Minister Mario (Campolargo) highly supports our candidacy,” Plate said after meeting with Portuguese Secretary of State for Digitalization and Modernization of Administration Affairs Mario Campolargo to discuss cooperation potentials in the digital sector.

Furthermore, he stated that by becoming the ITU Council member, Indonesia would be able to propose more fair use of telecommunication and information technology, such as the satellite orbit slots and communication device spectrum arrangements, for all countries, including for developed, developing, and least developed nations.

Indonesia has pushed for three agendas in its candidacy: capacity building, women's empowerment, as well as connecting the unconnected.

In addition to the candidacy as the ITU Council member, Indonesia strives to gather support for the candidacy of an Indonesian telecommunication expert, Meiditomo Sutyarjoko, as a member of the ITU Radio Regulation Board (RRB).

Hence, since mid-2022, the Communication and Informatics Ministry had been actively garnering support for the success of the candidacies.

Numerous bilateral meetings were conducted with various representatives from several countries, such as Germany, Japan, and Portugal, to bolster international support for Indonesia’s candidacy.

The attempt is expected to garner many votes for Indonesia at the ITU Council member election that will be held in coincidence with the implementation of the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference 2022 in Bucharest, Romania, from September 26 to October 14, 2022. (antaranews)