OREANDA-NEWS. October 18, 2012. At Club of the Cabinet of Ministers, a congress of Ukrainian public organization "Council on Competitiveness of Ukraine's ICT industry" has been held, which was attended by delegates from 17 regions of Ukraine, government officials, parliamentarians, academics, industry experts.

On the occasion of the congress opening, the Chairman of the State Agency on Science, Innovations and Informatization Volodymyr Semynozhenko read greetings of Prime Minister Mykola Azarov. "Understanding the importance of the information and communication technologies industry for the public, the Government pays great attention to programs to support this sector, the necessary reforms implementation as well.

Your activity is the driving force that brings the country to a new stage of development, shift to the information society," said the Prime Minister in his address to the meeting participants, expressing hope that the events to be held within the framework of the Congress, will have a great practical importance for public authorities, academic and business circles, will enhance cooperation between domestic and foreign companies and increase the competitiveness of domestic enterprises.

While opening the Congress, Volodymyr Semynozhenko stressed that Ukraine has to become one of the most developed countries, not only in ICT sector but also in the field of high technologies. He stressed on the maximum support industry by the government and the State Agency on Science, Innovations and Informatization. According to him, today it's need to unite all participants, which depend on the progress of the country from, in particular, civil society, government, business, ICT sector.

Volodymyr Semynozhenko emphasized that the ICT industry's growth contributes to export growth, improving import substitution, changing the structure of the economy. "ICT - is industry that creates a basis for an information society, open government, the basis for all communications creating an entirely new quality of life, business and economics, so the more powerful will be our actions and the more we'll initiate and carry out decisions in ICT sector, the more the future development of the country and its modernization will depend on this," the State Agency head pointed out.

In turn, Chairman of the Presidium of NGO "Council on Competitiveness of Ukraine's ICT industry" Viktor Yanukovych called on all be progressive thinking people and "don't overtake, but to set global trends." He also announced the signing of a memorandum between the Council on Competitiveness of the industry of Information and Communication Technologies and the State Tax Service, in which "have been laid those necessary provisions to enable Ukraine to become a worthy competitor and partner in the world."

As part of the Congress, there has been presented a draft program of the ICT industry development. The program is designed to solve problems in the field of IT education, information and communication infrastructure, access to information, e-commerce, an innovative ecosystem and more.