Embrace Information Technology to compete in global market place, Mugasha tells LDCs

Least Developed Countries (LDCs) must embrace the use of information and communication technology to successfully compete in the global market place and improve growth of their economies, Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General Florence Mugasha told a United Nations High-Level Meeting on 19 September 2006.

Investing in Information and Communication Technology, known by the acronym ICT, was crucial in raising the competitive edge of the Least Developed Countries and putting them on a firm footing in the global fight to eradicate poverty, Mrs. Mugasha said.

Fifteen of the Commonwealth’s 53 members are classified as LDCs.  The Commonwealth was playing its part in providing access to ICTs through the 1.1 million euro Commonwealth Connects programme of the Commonwealth Secretariat to bridge the digital divide among member states, Mrs. Mugasha told the Mid-term Comprehensive Global Review of the Programme of Action for Least Developed Countries for the decade 2001-2010.

In a separate speech at the UN High-Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development on 14-15 September, Mrs Mugasha underlined the need to improve the understanding and implementation of existing legal instruments on migration to make migration mutually beneficial to countries and migrants.

“We also need to develop better indicators to measure the impact of migration on development, how it is contributing towards the achievement of Millennium Development Goals and the reduction of poverty.”

CNIS - Commonwealth News and Information Service Issue 303, 20 September 2006

Secretariat Links:

• Deputy Secretary-General

Related Websites:

• UN MDGs
• Commonwealth Connects