Remarks by Former Pakistani Prime Minister at Opening Ceremony of World Internet Conference - Internet Development Forum
by Chen Jiaqi
WUZHEN, Nov. 24 (China Economic Net) - The opening ceremony of the World Internet Conference - Internet Development Forum was held at the International Internet Convention and Exhibition Center in Wuzhen, east China's Zhejiang Province, at 9 am on November 23, with the theme of "Digital Empowerment to Create a Better Future: Jointly Build a Community of Shared Future in Cyberspace". To facilitate the construction of a community of shared future in cyberspace, Zhuang Rongwen, Director of the Cyberspace Administration of China, put forward four suggestions at the opening ceremony:
First, we should strive to make cyberspace a health community by incorporating digital solutions into the fight against COVID-19 outbreak. In particular, we should help developing countries and less developed regions with their technological capacity, and ensure that deprived regions and their people keep up with the digital tech-aided fight against the COVID-19 epidemic, so that the Internet can play a facilitative and supportive role in the combat against the COVID-19 virus.
Second, we should strive to make cyberspace a security community by maintaining the security and stability of cyberspace.
Third, we should fully stimulate the momentum and vitality of digital cooperation. We should integrate into the world by creating networks, deepen international exchanges and cooperation in digital systems, technologies, talents, projects, etc., promote broader and deeper technological development and resource sharing, and complement each other's advantages. We should adhere to the concept of mutual development, strengthen the construction of information infrastructure, accelerate the deployment of information services, and continuously narrow the digital gap between different countries, regions and groups of people so that we can jointly seize the opportunities of digital technology development.
Fourth, we should strive to make cyberspace a humanistic community by strengthening exchanges over internet cultures.
Zhuang Rongwen, Director of the Cyberspace Administration of China, delivers a speech at opening ceremony of the World Internet Conference - Internet Development Forum. (China Economic Net/ Chen Jiaqi)
The World Internet Conference - Internet Development Forum is held in both online and offline mode. Former Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech through online video. "It is a time of so much uncertainty and changing norms. Digitization has become the true engine for global growth. Fortunes are being made and unmade, companies rise and fall, trends are changing of trends all at unprecedented speed. It also means that increasingly traditional borders are being less and less...and how we interact within it is changing. There is a huge amount of global good that can come from this- on a macro and micro level", said Mr. Aziz.
Shaukat Aziz, former Prime Minister of Pakistan, delivers a speech at opening ceremony of the World Internet Conference - Internet Development Forum. (China Economic Net/ Chen Jiaqi)
He cited the following examples. Firstly, digitalization makes a perfect market more accessible. Secondly, it may improve the quality of public service supply with greater transparency, thus enabling more efficient governance. Finally, and more importantly, an increasingly interconnected world will bind humanity more closely by breaking through taboos and cultural barriers. "If harnessed and directed correctly, technology makes way for a more democratic form of globalization. It can usher in development and social mobility – on a level which has never seen before... At a time when many nations have been turning to increasingly insular policies, there must be a renewed focus on developing linkages, interdependencies and connectivity. This will help shore up a level of trust. Connectivity is the true safeguard of peace and harmony", said Mr. Aziz.
A main forum and 5 sub-forums are set up in the World Internet Conference - Internet Development Forum. The main forum consists of "Digital Economy and Prevention and Control Measures in Response to COVID-19" and "Science & Technology and Innovation-driven Development Forum", among other sessions. The sub-forums include "the International Norms in Cyberspace", "the 'Belt and Road' Forum for International Cooperation on Cyberspace", and " the Youth and Digital Future Forum", etc.
Moreover, the forum will also release the World Internet Development Report 2020 and the China Internet Development Report 2020. The two blue papers will give a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the world’s and China's Internet development trends, and provide insights and ideas for the development and governance of the global Internet.
（Editor:Fu Bo）
