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CLOSING REMARKS BY
MR ADRIANUS MOOY
UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS
AND EXECUTIVE SECRETARY OF ESCAP
(Wednesday, 7 June 2000)
Mr Chairman,
Excellencies, Distinguished Representatives,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As the 56th session of the Commission draws to a close, may I first of all, Mr Chairman,
express my deep appreciation to you for the very skillful manner with which you have guided our
deliberations. My sincere thanks also go to all the Vice Chairmen; the Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen
of the three Committees of the Whole; as well as the Chairman and Vice-Chairmen of the Working
Group on Draft Resolutions for the very significant contributions they have made to the work of the
Commission over the past few days.
I also wish to express my deep appreciation to the Royal Thai Government for its assistance
towards the holding of this session. As the host country of ESCAP, Thailand has consistently
provided its generous support to the Commission and the secretariat.
I would also like to express my deep appreciation to all the distinguished representatives for
upholding the traditional spirit of harmony and consensus during our deliberations.
Mr Chairman,
I was much encouraged by the strong support expressed by the member states for our efforts.
Specially welcome has been the emphasis on closer regional cooperation in an increasingly inter-dependent and globalizing world. A clear message that emerged from the session is that the
developing countries of the region will have to work even closer than in the past if they are to reap
the benefits of globalization. This has become all the more evident following the WTO Ministerial
Meeting in Seattle and UNCTAD X in Bangkok.
Mr Chairman,
Let me assure this august body that ESCAP remains committed to searching for new avenues
for strengthening regional cooperation that would benefit, in particular, the developing members and
associate members. Let me digress briefly at this point to offer some personal thoughts as I prepare
to leave the secretariat after what has arguably been a five-year period of transition and change
in the evolution of the Organization and in the development dynamics of the region.
First and foremost, it is clear that if ESCAP is to succeed in fulfilling its mandate, it cannot
go it alone. We need to build partnerships - with other regional and subregional organizations, UN
bodies and specialized agencies, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, and civil
society.
As I had stated earlier, the last five years have been specially challenging for us in the Asia
Pacific region. Not only because the region is a vast and diverse one, but on top of that we have
witnessed the United Nations financial crisis since 1995 and Asian Economic and financial crisis in
1997. These have occurred in a rapidly changing and globalizing world, and require, among
others, reform and adjustment to achieve a more focused and efficient approach which would make
the Commission more relevant and responsive to the needs of member states. It would also entail
closer cooperation with other stakeholders, and the promotion of ECDC and TCDC in order to help
each other.
In fact, these are essentially the kinds of things that we have been working on in ESCAP
particularly during the last 5 years. I think we have made some progress in that regard which was
also made possible by the consistently strong support provided to the secretariat and to me
personally by the member states over the last five years for which I am deeply grateful. Specially,
I was very touched by the many references to me personally in the statements by leaders of
delegations. Indeed, I feel greatly honoured and privileged to have served the Commission during
this period.
I should also like express my deep appreciation to the able and dedicated staff of the
secretariat who, through their collective efforts, make the Organization proud. I value their many
contributions and I shall miss them.
As I said earlier people come and go but organizations will go on. I therefore hope that you
would also extend the same support to the Secretariat in the coming years and particularly the new
Executive Secretary, Mr Kim Hak-Su.
Mr Chairman,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Representatives,
Because of the revolution in technology, the universe will be continuously expanding but the
world is shrinking and in this "global village", therefore, I am sure that our paths will cross again. So I will not say "Good Bye" but rather "so long".
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