The Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Yoshio Utsumi, has confirmed the recommendation of the ITU TELECOM Board to hold the next ITU TELECOM WORLD in 2006 in Hong Kong, China, following an evaluation of the final offers received from Geneva and Hong Kong on 28 May 2004. At the request of the Geneva authorities, the ITU TELECOM Board, at its’ meeting on 5 May 2004, agreed to authorize Geneva to revise its offer. For transparency and fair play, the Board also agreed to invite Hong Kong to review its bid and the 28 May deadline given.
The revised offers complemented the initial bids in that they were refining the terms and conditions for the various elements already submitted. It was deemed that, all considered, the Hong Kong offer topped the Geneva bid with direct costs of between 30 to 50 per cent lower (depending on the square metreage sold) in addition to a sizeable level of guaranteed sales by Chinese companies and lower indirect costs such as subcontractor rates or hotel rates.
However, in view of the fact that there will be no event in Europe in 2006, ITU is also considering the possible organization of a European event — ITU TELECOM EUROPA. The first such event was held in 1992 in Budapest but has not been staged since, given that the world event was also taking place in Europe. The next world event is scheduled to take place in 2009, the venue of which will be selected following a new call for bids.