Iran’s Minister of Information and Communications Technology Seyed Sattar Hashemi chaired the specialized session on Sustainable Digital Infrastructure and Accessibility at the Ministerial Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Telecommunity (APT) on Friday in Tokyo.
The session on Sustainable Digital
Infrastructure and Accessibility, as one of the three plenary sessions of the APT
ministerial meeting focused on three key areas: Optimizing Network and Spectrum
Resources, Environmentally Responsible ICT Solutions, and Enhancing Resilience
to Climate Change.
The aim of this panel was to reduce the digital divide and
increase equitable access to communications at the regional level. The
participation and chairmanship of the Iranian ICT minister indicates the active
and forward-looking role of the Islamic Republic of Iran in shaping regional
discourses on sustainable digital development.
Ministers and senior telecommunications officials from 11
countries, including Iran, Fiji, Indonesia, India, Maldives, and Hong Kong, delivered
specialized presentations and exchanged national experiences and challenges in
the field of digital infrastructure development.
The Asia-Pacific Telecommunity Ministerial Meeting (APT-MM) is
one of the most important regional events in the field of telecommunications
and information technology policy-making. The meeting aims to strengthen
multilateral cooperation between governments, regulatory bodies, and the
private sector of member countries, and provides a platform for reflection on
common challenges and opportunities in the development of digital
communications.
The focus on concepts such as bridging the digital divide,
communication security, environmental resilience of infrastructure, and
strengthening digital innovation are among the main themes of these meetings.
The current APT meeting is one of the most attended sessions of the
event. During this session, ministers and senior officials from 38 member
countries, together with representatives of the private sector and academia, are
scheduled to discuss the future of sustainable digital infrastructure, trusted
IT environments, and enhancing the region’s role in global development.
The active presence of the Islamic Republic of Iran in this
year’s meeting and its chairmanship of one of the key panels, shows Iran's status
as one of the founding countries of the APT and an effective player in shaping
the future of regional communications.
Iran has always strived to present a balanced and
sustainable approach to digital development by emphasizing communication justice,
resource efficiency, and the convergence of technology with cultural and
environmental considerations.
The Iranian ICT minister is visiting Japan to participate in
the APT telecommunity meetings on June 29-30, 2025 and also to meet his
counterparts on bilateral areas of cooperation.
On the sidelines of the Tokyo meeting, Hashemi met the Minister of
Communications of Malaysia Ahmad Fahmi bin Mohamed Fadzil during which they
discussed development of bilateral technology cooperation, including in the
fields of cybersecurity, smart government, artificial intelligence, and space
communications.
The two ministers announced their readiness to sign a memorandum
of understanding including on joint investment. They emphasized the possibility
of cooperation between telecommunications regulatory bodies, and agreed on the
need to continue technical discussions and exchange of experience.
The Malaysian minister accepted the invitation extended to
him by Iran’s ICT minister to visit Tehran.