Swiss vineyards may not be as prestigious as its watch industries. But the Helvetian cellars don't disappoint the connoisseurs of Bordeaux or Tuscany either. Earlier, on October 11 while having lunch with the media, the ITU's Secretary General Yoshio Utsumi joked, "You would better drink a lot and not ask me any difficult questions."

The media was, certainly, not drunk and Utsumi survived. Because the telecom industry has been scratching its head since 2000 and mumbling, "www" -- what went wrong?

Therefore, similar questions were needless to repeat for Utsumi.

But in the farewell party, Hamadoun Touré, ITU's Director of Telecommunication Development Bureau or BDT, revealed what has been going wrong with Bangladesh. Voice of this charismatic African lion is equally firm and warm like his grip, "I am grateful to Bangladesh for its vote in electing and re-electing me in ITU."

Hamadoun's department assists the ITU's member countries with various telecom development projects. We had extensive discussions on various issues pertaining to the development of ICT and telecom sectors of Bangladesh. I asked Hamadoun about non-existent Bangladeshi officials in ITU. He said Bangladesh government should have forwarded the CVs of its candidates.

I remembered how our telecom ministry had been sitting on just retired BTTB's chairman FQM Faroque's application for a senior position in ITU during early 2001. Merit of this extraordinary telecom engineer is being wasted in the ghetto of telecom regulatory commission. We are pretty good at making fire woods out of mahogany.

However, I said unlike Nepal, Bhutan, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka Bangladesh has been getting no project assistance from ITU. The BDT chief replied, "We have money but the cue is long and Bangladesh has to apply for it. All I need is an email, requesting for assistance, and I immediately respond to it."

Hamadoun Touré said ITU provides free hardware and software along with necessary training, for spectrum management, to the telecom regulators. "We are ready to assist on drafting the licenses for fixed, mobile and other services," said the BDT chief.

He also confirmed that ITU can help in restructuring the BTTB if Bangladesh government desires. Hamadoun Touré categorically said all these services are absolutely free for Bangladesh. "It is not a charity, but the fundamental right of Bangladesh as a member state of the ITU," he said and repeated, "But you have to ask for it."

Hamadoun said that ITU, being the world's oldest telecom body, has the best information of worldwide telecom experts in its fingertips. "No organisation can match the quality of ITU's expertise in ICT and telecom," he challenged.

I complained about the scarcity of ITU publications among the telecom professionals in Bangladesh. "It is equally expensive and difficult for Bangladesh to make payments in Swiss Francs for every purchase," I commented.

Hamadoun said, "Bangladesh gets 80 per cent discount on any purchase of ITU publications." I argued, "But sending payments to ITU remains a problem due to our orthodox foreign currency regulations."

"Bangladesh doesn't need to pay anything upfront," he explained, "Tag your payments for publications with the membership fees." The farewell party was getting over. Neither Hamadoun nor I had any chance to eat and drink. I left Palexpo with a perplexed mind.

All it needs is a simple email from Bangladesh government to get the handful assistance from ITU. BTTB, being the ITU's member, is aware of it. But BTTB management has been concealing these opportunities and consistently misleading the government on sectoral reform issues.

Our neighbours have been steadfast for sustainable ICT development, exploiting ITU's assistance. Whereas our ICT task force (actually task-farce) have locked the nation in the fantasy kingdom of billion dollars software exports and VoIP legalisation! How long the elite will mislead the country to overlook the treasures it deserves?

Our prime minister is attending the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva. She is also addressing this summit on December 11. ITU is hosting this first of its kind assembly of global leaders.

It will be politically correct, strategically advantageous and decisively effective if the PM seeks ITU's assistance to build a sustainable information society. It will be not a donor-beggar game but a rare opportunity to establish the right of Bangladesh as a member country.

Bodies concerned like our permanent mission in Geneva should ensure Bangladesh presents a realistic proposal when our PM formally meets the ITU secretary general. Hamadoun Touré, ITU's director of BDT, will attend that meeting. Trust me.

The writer is a telecom analyst