The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will bid to host the next quadrennial conference of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), its official said Wednesday.

"Following the successful hosting of three mega events back in 2012, the UAE was pleased and honored to have trust and confidence from all members of the union," said Nasser A. Bin Hammad, the country's head delegate, referring to the ITU Telecom World in Dubai, the 2012 World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly and the World Conference on International Telecommunications.

"Today, the UAE is pleased to announce (the bid to be) host of the supreme event of the entire union," he said.

The host of the ITU meeting is chosen through members' consensus. Normally, only one country emerges as the official candidate. If the UAE wins the bid, it will mark the first time for the Middle East to hold the ITU meeting.

The UAE has been making significant improvement in terms of the ICT sector, with the number of subscribers to the mobile broadband rising to 89 per 100 people in 2013, compared to 21.7 in 2011.

Industry watchers said hosting the global meeting would give the country a boost in the ICT sector compared to other economic rivals in the region, such as Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain.

South Korea is currently hosting the 19th ITU Plenipotentiary Conference, referred to as the PP-14, in this port city until Nov.7. This is the first time that the event is held in the country and the second time in Asia. (Yonhap)