50th Anniversary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Environment, Dr. George W. Vella, was today the first speaker in the series of statements of delegations on inter - alia, the reform process and how the new strategic directions to be adopted might promote a better integrated Europe, during the High Level Segment marking the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.

More than twenty of the fifty-five member States of the Commission are being represented at the Ministerial level.

Mr. Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations, inaugurated the Jubilee Session of the Commission which will adopt a Ministerial Declaration and Plan of Action providing extensive reforms of the Economic Commission for Europe.

This morning Dr. Vella met Mr. Yves Berthelot, Executive Secretary of the UN/ECE, where among other things, ideas were exchanged on how Malta and the Commission could explore the possibility of amplifying the Mediterranean dimension in the Commission's activities and programmes particularly in the fields of trade, transport, energy and the environment.

Dr. Vella is leading a Maltese Delegation to the Jubilee Session, which is composed of the Permanent Representative Ambassador Michael Bartolo; Ambassador Saviour Borg; Mr. Joe Sant, Private Secretary to the Minister; and Dr. Jacqueline Aquilina and Mr. Anthony Bonnici from the Permanent Mission of Malta in Geneva.