..Press Release................................ UNESCAP News Services

Date 7 April 2006
Press Release No: G/13/CS62/7

62nd Commission Session, 6-12 April 2006

Groundwork laid for major UNESCAP meet

62nd Commission continues in Jakarta with business leaders in focus

JAKARTA, 7 April 2006 – Senior officials at UNESCAP’s 62nd Commission Session continued working today to lay the ground work for Monday’s Ministerial level 62nd Commission meeting.

Delegates from over 50 UNESCAP members consulted on a number of economic and social issues important to the Asia-Pacific region as well as on the formulation of draft recommendations for consideration by the Ministers on Monday.

UNESCAP Executive Secretary Kim Hak-Su expressed satisfaction with the progress being made.

“I am confident that the 62nd Commission Session will produce some innovative and fresh ideas which will spur the region into energizing its economy and protecting its vulnerable people,” he said.

At the fourth meeting of UNESCAP’s Business Advisory Council, some of the region’s most esteemed businessmen and women were thinking of concrete ideas to gather support for development efforts through private sector initiatives.

The Council met in advance of the Asia-Pacific Business Forum which begins this evening with former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad as the keynote speaker. The Business Forum runs through 8 April.

During the day senior officials adopted the report of the Ninth Special Body on Pacific Island Developing Countries in preparation for PLUS - Pacific Leaders’ United Nations ESCAP Special Session – which will be held on Monday and devoted to strengthening Pacific island developing countries and territories through regional cooperation.

The Session will be the first time in UNESCAP’s history that Pacific leaders will have the opportunity to express their concerns directly to Commission delegations.

Participants also considered reports of regional intergovernmental bodies including the Coordinating Committee for Geoscience Programmes in East and Southeast Asia, the Mekong River Commission, the Typhoon Committee, and the Panel on Tropical Cyclones.

Complete information on the 62nd Commission Session is available at www.unescap.org.

For media inquiries, please contact:
Mr. David Lazarus, Chief, United Nations Information Services Bangkok
In Jakarta: Tel: +(62-21) 572-6126
Mobile: +(66-1) 849-2554
E-mail: unisbkk.unescap@un.org

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