October 4, 2022 Results of the Election of the Director of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Telecommunication Standardization Bureau and Council Member States at the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference

The Plenipotentiary Conference of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is taking place in Bucharest, Romania from September 26 until October 14, 2022. The election of the next Director of the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau was held in the morning of September 30 (local time) and the Japanese candidate, Mr. ONOE Seizo, Chief Standardization Strategy Officer (CSSO) of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) Corp., was elected as the next director, with a majority of votes. The election of the ITU Council member states took place in the morning of October 3 (local time) and Japan was one of the member states elected.
Mr. TSUGE Yoshifumi, State Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications, attended the conference and requested member countries' support in the two elections, resulting in success. In addition, the State Minister gave a policy statement outlining Japan's ICT policy.

1. Outline of the results of the election of the Director of the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Bureau and Council member states

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU; headquarters: Geneva, Swiss Confederation) Plenipotentiary Conference is being held in Bucharest, Romania between Monday, September 26 and Friday, October 14, 2022.
The election of the next Director of the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau was held in the morning of Friday, September 30 (local time) and Mr. ONOE Seizo, Chief Standardization Strategy Officer (CSSO) of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) Corp., was elected as the next director. The election of the ITU Council member states took place in the morning of Monday, October 3 (local time) and Japan was one of the 48 member states elected (this marks the 13th successive time that Japan has been elected since 1959). The term of office for both positions is four years.
Mr. TSUGE Yoshifumi, State Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications, attended the conference and requested member countries' support in the elections for Director of the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau and Council member states, resulting in success in both elections.

2. Policy statement by Mr. TSUGE Yoshifumi, State Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications

On the first day of the conference, Mr. TSUGE Yoshifumi, State Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications, made a policy statement. Mr. TSUGE noted the importance of technical standardization in spreading new technologies around the world, and explained Japan's involvement to date in projects to strengthen digital infrastructure via the ITU, and its policy initiatives aimed at human resource development in order to develop the digital environment. In addition, after expressing his hopes for the role to be played by the ITU in ICT development, Mr. TSUGE stated Japan's commitment to providing 30 units of financial support in order to contribute to the further enhancement and expansion of the ITU's activities. Furthermore, the State Minister asked for members' support for Japan's election as a member of the Council and for the Japanese candidate's election as the Director of the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau.

3. Exchanges of views with other members

Taking the opportunity of his attendance at the conference, Mr. TSUGE held talks with ITU Secretary-General Houlin ZHAO, during which they expressed their hopes for the success of the conference and exchanged views regarding the strengthening of cooperative relations between MIC and the ITU.
Mr. TSUGE also held an exchange of views with ITU Plenipotentiary Conference Chairman Mr. Sabin SĂRMAȘ (Chairman of the IT and Communications Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the Romanian Parliament). During this meeting, the State Minister expressed his hopes for the success of the conference and for the initiatives of Mr. SĂRMAȘ.
Furthermore, Mr. TSUGE exchanged views with a number of national delegations participating in the conference, during which he affirmed Japan's desire to strengthen cooperative relations within the ITU, including at the conference, and also to enhance cooperative relationships in the field of AI and other areas of ICT. In addition, he requested the delegations' support for Japan's candidacies in the elections for Director of the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau and Council member states.
Japan will be proactive in its ongoing contributions to ensure that it can continue to play an important role in the ITU's activities.

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  The published materials are in Japanese only.