In our view, the bodies comprising the structure and the tasks entrusted to them afford a high degree of certainty that the World Summit to be held in 2003 and 2005 will be successfully prepared.
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We base this view on the work that is being done:
 by the High Level Summit Organizing Committee (HLSOC), chaired by the
Secretary-General of ITU;
 by the Executive Secretariat, comprising experts appointed by governments, United Nations agencies, the private sector, non-governmental organizations and civil society; by the States Coordination Office; in terms of the ITU Secretary-General's invitation to the government of each country to designate a focal point to liaise with appropriate ministries and to act as a contact person for the Summit's Executive Secretariat;
 in terms of the three meetings that are scheduled for the Preparatory Committee
(PREPCOM), which in our view are sufficient for discussion of the Operational Plan and the documents and proposals to be submitted by the Executive Secretariat. At the first
PREPCOM meeting (Geneva, 1-5 July 2002), we will be able to decide on the themes of the Summit and determine the form and extent of participation by the private sector, civil society and other interested parties, the aim being to work together so that the Summit produces a Declaration of Principles and an Action Plan to make possible the development of the Information Society and the closure of the digital divide.
At present, we feel that, in principle, the six themes proposed in the ITU Secretary-General's
Note DM-1239 of 6 February 2002 need no modification insofar as they are intended to cover from all angles the issues raised by the Global Information Society and its development through the use of information and communication technologies (ICT).
Since the themes are bound to be discussed in the Liaison Committee and the ITU Council, we felt it would be useful already to forward some of our views, which are set out in the attachment hereto.
We believe that the draft Action Plan should include a statement to the effect that ITU should gather information from developing countries and the least developed countries in order to ascertain where they stand and what their plans are with regard to the use of ICTs as a means of gaining access to the Information Society and hence of bridging the digital divide.
The information will then need to be updated, followed up on and disseminated with a view to identifying and preparing development and investment projects. ITU can play a major role in implementing such projects in accordance with its purposes as set forth in the Preamble to the
Constitution, namely to facilitate peaceful relations, international cooperation among peoples and economic and social development by means of efficient telecommunication services.
The TELECOM surplus might be considered as a possible source of funding for the activities required by the preparation of such projects.
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