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

Date 10 April 2006
Press Release No: G/15/CS62/9

62nd Commission Session, 6-12 April 2006

Opening Statement by Mr Kim Hak-Su,
United Nations Under-Secretary-General and
Executive Secretary of ESCAP
Thursday, 10 April 2006

Opening Ceremony, Ministerial Meeting, 10 April 2006

Mr. Chairman,
Your Excellency, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It gives me much pleasure to extend to all of you a warm welcome to the 62 nd session of the Commission.

Your Excellency, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono,

On behalf of all of us present here and on my own behalf, I should like to express our deep gratitude to Your Excellency for the hosting of the sixty-second Commission session by the Government of Indonesia and for graciously consenting to inaugurate the Ministerial Meeting.

Permit me to pay a warm tribute to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia under the leadership of His Excellency Dr. Hassan Wirajuda for excellent collaboration in the organization of this session. In particular we should like the distinguished delegates to know that the ESCAP secretariat worked with the same Indonesian team that was central to the organizational success of the Asia-Africa Summit held last year.

It is my great privilege to extend a special welcome to the Honourable Presidents of Kiribati and of the Marshall Islands, the Honourable Prime Minister of Tuvalu, as well as the Distinguished Vice Presidents of the Federated States of Micronesia and of Palau who are here with us, together with other senior colleagues from the Pacific island developing countries and territories.

Distinguished Delegates,

This is the third time in ESCAP’s history that the Government of Indonesia is hosting a Commission session. The first occasion was in 1953 when the ninth Commission session was held in Bandung. In 1988, the forty-fourth Commission session was held here in Jakarta.

Indonesia also contributed the services of two of my predecessors, one of whom is Mr. Adrianus Mooy – Mr. Mooy, thank you for joining us this morning.

Mr. President,

Your presence here today reaffirms Indonesia’s commitment to the United Nations and to supporting ESCAP as the secretariat of the Governments of the Asian and Pacific region.

We particularly value this support at a time when the entire United Nations system, including ESCAP and the other four Regional Commissions, is engaged in serious reform to adapt to the challenges of the twenty-first century and to address more effectively and efficiently the priorities of Member States.

Thank you.

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Mr. David Lazarus, Chief, United Nations Information Services Bangkok

In Jakarta: Tel: +(62-21) 572-6126
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E-mail: unisbkk.unescap@un.org

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