BEIRUT: The region’s Information and Communication Technolgy (ICT ) leaders voiced optimism Thursday about the future of the sector but noted that gains from foreign direct investment in the industry have failed to translate into sound social policies.

Secretary-general of the International Telecom Union Hamdoun Toure said that the ICT sector in the region had achieved exceptional growth in the past decade: “The mobile phone penetration rate has risen from a mere 3.2 percent in 2001 to around 90 percent at present, above the global average. However, Internet penetration remains low, giving room for more growth in the sector.”

But panelists speaking at the first session of the conference, titled “Arab Telecom and Internet Forum,” noted that the huge investment in the ICT sector in the region did not reflect more economic development.

They called on governments to better coordinate social and economic policies, warning that “sound economic policies and good forecasts can be easily eroded by fragile social conditions.”

Saud Darweesh, CEO of Saudi Telecom Corporation, said the region’s ICT sector will continue to grow rapidly as economic might gradually shifts from the West to the East.

He said this would bring additional growth to the vital sector.

He added that introducing new technologies such as Web 2.00 and cloud computing would increase efficiency, lower production costs and contribute to creating highly paid job opportunities.

Such technologies, however, would be most effective if the region’s countries cooperated further, and speakers stressed close coordination would significantly lower costs for the end user.

They said the ICT sector is capable of helping negate economic downturn both in the region and internationally.

On one occasion panelists argued that there is a direct correlation between the Global Competitiveness Index and the Network Readiness Index. In other words, they contended countries that show little interest in endorsing new ICT developments will fall behind in terms of economic competitiveness.

“While fast developments in the sector might put few traditional jobs at risk, it will create three high paying jobs for every job lost,” Darweesh said.

“Moreover, every $700 investment in the sector will contribute directly and indirectly in the creation of an additional job,” he added.

Khalid Balkheyour, head of Arabsat, said the company had been engaged in huge investments over the past five years, putting the total investments at $1.6 billion. Balkheyour said advancements in the Internet had in fact raised satellite usage instead of lowering it, as previously feared by experts.

Lebanese Telecoms Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui promised his ministry will continue to expand the country’s telecommunications infrastructure to cater for future use.

“The next steps will be to expand the fiber-optic network to cover the whole country and start linking the network directly to households,” he said.

The Arab Spring was a major theme at the conference with experts highlighting the role of ICT and new media tools used by activists in realizing change in their countries.

The Libyan Telecoms Minister Anwar Faytouri was upbeat about growth in his country, saying mobile subscriptions have more than doubled since the end of the revolution.