Riyadh, January 17, 2019, SPA - - Governor of the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) Dr. Abdulaziz AlRuwais signed here today an agreement on strengthening cooperation and partnership in the field of ICTs with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), represented by Ms. Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Director of the Telecommunication Development Bureau of ITU, during her first visit to Riyadh after her election in last November. In a press statement released today, the CITC said that this agreement comes as a result of CITC’s commitment to contribute in strengthening the Kingdom's effective role in the international community, and its commitment to work with the ITU towards building a promising future for communication and information technology around the globe. As the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technology, the ITU plays a key role in building strategic cooperation and understanding between all stakeholders including governments and representatives of the private sector. At the signing ceremony, Dr. AlRuwais highlighted the mission CITC undertakes through this agreement and other ongoing joint ventures with ITU. “Particularly, those dedicated towards supporting regulatory innovation in ICT. As this agreement, aims to reinforce cooperation in supporting ICT regulators around the world, especially in developing countries. Moreover, this agreement aims to share the Kingdom's expertise in this field with all member states”. Dr. AlRuwais stated. As part of her remarks at the signing ceremony, Ms. Bogdan-Martin commended the progress made by the Kingdom towards developing the telecommunications and information technology sector. Initiatives recently implemented by CITC to adopt new technologies, such as 5G and Internet of things (IoT), in the Kingdom have resulted in CITC earning its ranking among the most developed regulators of the ICT sector around the world, as previously announced by ITU. Dr. AlRuwais stressed that “this level of development in the ICT sector would not have been possible without Allah’s blessing, and then the support and guidance of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense and HE Eng. Abdullah Bin Amer AlSawah, Minister of Communications and Information Technology and Chairman of CITC’s Board of Directors”. Through this partnership, the Kingdom became the first country to sign an agreement with the ITU’s cycle for (2019-2022), which confirms the Kingdom's pioneering role in collaborating with the United Nations organizations. -- SPA 15:35 LOCAL TIME 12:35 GMT 0009 www.spa.gov.sa/w822085