YAMADA Toshiyuki Elected to the Post of Secretary General of APT (Asia-Pacific Telecommunity)
Outline of 31st Session of the Management Committee of APT
The 31st Session of the MC of the APT was held from November 27 to 30, 2007, in Seoul, Korea. Twenty eight of 34 Member countries attended the meeting. The delegation of Japan was headed by Mr. YAMAKAWA Tetsuo, Director-General of International Affairs Department, Telecommunications Bureau of Ministry.
Results of the election for Secretary General and Deputy Secretary General
Mr. YAMADA Toshiyuki of Japan was unanimously elected as the next Secretary General. Mr. YAMADA becomes the second Japanese national to hold the post following Mr. SONOKI Hiroyasu who was Director General (currently Secretary General) of the APT from 1993 to 1996.
Mr. YAMADA is very familiar with APT’s organization and operations, having served as Vice Chairman of the MC of the APT, and he is currently serving as APT’s Deputy Secretary General.
In addition, Mr. Kraisorn Pornsutee, Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Information and Communication Technology of Thailand was elected as the next Deputy Secretary General.
The newly-elected Secretary General and Deputy Secretary General will take up their posts in early February 2008.
Since the Amendment to the Constitution of the APT came into effect on August 2, 2007, their terms are provisionally set for a single year. New elections for both posts will be held at the next General Assembly scheduled for autumn of 2008.
Significance of Mr. Yamada's inauguration to the Secretary General
APT implements various types of cooperation with a view toward balanced development of telecommunications in the Asia-Pacific region, including enhancing Human Resources Development and regional cooperation for such telecommunications fields as standardization and radio communications. Japan has supported these activities by making extra budgetary contributions. With Mr. YAMADA leading the APT as the Secretary General, this regional cooperation will be further strengthened. It is expected that the views originating from the Asia-Pacific region will be better reflected in the global arena of standardization activities and coordination for wireless use.
APT (Asia-Pacific Telecommunity) was established in 1979 based on an initiative put forth by United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP) as the focal organization for telecommunications in the Asia-Pacific region. The headquarters of the Telecommunity is located in Bangkok, Thailand.
For more information, please consult the following website:
http://www.aptsec.org/index.html
Japan Attends Commemorative Celebration for the Start of Brazil’s Digital Terrestrial TV Broadcasts
Place:Sala Sao Paulo Theater (in Sao Paulo)
Attending from Japan:
SHIMANOUCHI Ken (Ambassador of Japan in Brazil),MORI Kiyoshi (Vice Minister for Policy Coordination, MIC), NISHIBAYASHI Masuo (Consul-General of Japan at Sao Paulo),OKU Hideyuki (Director of the Broadcasting Technology Division, MIC), the director of the Information and Communication Electronics Division , METI, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, Japanese and local equipment manufacturers, Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK), commercial broadcasters, trading companies, etc.
Outline:Several hundred people have been invited, and there were speeches by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Chief of Staff Dilma Rousseff, Minister of Telecommunications Helio Costa and representatives of the six local broadcasting companies. The various speeches shared the theme of the expectation of development both in the ICT field and also on the socio-economic front thanks to digital broadcasting.
President Lula announced the implementation of financial assistance to STB manufacture in order to lower price of digital TV receivers and Set-Top Boxes.
The celebrations were broadcast by commercial broadcasters such as TV Globo and people were able to watch the scene with portable terminals and mobile phones capable of receiving one-segment TV signal even in the Theater.
Communications Industry Forecasts of Business Conditions
- Results of October 2007 Survey on “Overall Results of Japan’s Communications Industry” (Prompt Report) -
- Both the sales forecast diffusion index (DI)1 and the business conditions diffusion index (DI)2 continue to be "positive" among telecommunications carriers and cable TV operators, while those of commercial broadcasters remain "negative."
- The financial position diffusion index (DI)3 continues to be "positive" among telecommunications carriers and commercial broadcasters, while that of cable TV operators turned "negative" from "zero" in the last survey period.
1. Sales forecast diffusion index (DI): the "percentage of companies predicting an increase in sales" minus the "percentage of companies predicting a decrease in sales over the previous quarter"
2. Business conditions diffusion index (DI): the "percentage of companies predicting improvement in business conditions" minus the "percentage of companies predicting decline in business conditions"
3. Financial position diffusion index (DI): the "percentage of companies predicting they will be financially better off" minus the "percentage of companies predicting they will be financially worse off"
Sales forecast
Financial position forecast
Business conditions forecast
