First of all, let me take this opportunity to congratulate you, Sir, on your assumption of the presidency.

The wife of the Head of State is the Honorary President.

Mr. MINE (Japan) Mr. President, at the outset I would like to congratulate you on your assumption of the presidency.

I would like, first of all, to extend my warmest congratulations to you, Sir, on your assumption of the important position of Chairman.

Mr. ONODERA (Japan) Mr. President, first of all, I would like to congratulate you on your assumption of the presidency.

Mrs. HJELM WALLEN (Sweden) Mr. President, may I first of all congratulate you on your assumption of the presidency of the CD?

Mr. SEIBERT (Germany) Madam President, I should first like to congratulate you on the assumption of the presidency of the Conference.

It is accountable to the Council and is headed by a Chief Executive Officer (CEO), who also serves as the Council Chair.

The Committee is chaired by the head of State of Liberia, and a vice chairperson is designated by the international partners.

Mr. STREULI (Switzerland) (translated from French) Mr. President, first of all I would like to congratulate you on your appointment as President of this Conference.

The four round table sessions will have at least 40 seats each and will be chaired by a Head of State or Government.

Mr. Jessen Petersen Let me begin, Sir, by congratulating you as the President of the Council.

Mr. BENTSUR (Israel) Mr. President, let me begin by congratulating you on your assumption of the presidency of the Conference on Disarmament.

Mr. HOFER (Switzerland) (translated from French) Mr. President, allow me first of all to congratulate you on taking up the presidency of the Conference on Disarmament.

Mr. GOONETILLEKE (Sri Lanka) Madam President, I should begin by congratulating you on assuming your duties as President of the Conference.

In exercising his prerogatives, he shall respect those of the current President of the Summit and the President of the Ministerial Conference.

Mr. Bennouna (Morocco) (spoke in French) I should like at the outset to congratulate you, Sir, on your assumption of the presidency of the Security Council.

Among these three positions, women rarely occupy the presidency, are found slightly more often as first treasurer and more often yet as first secretary.

Noting that the Chief Minister of Montserrat assumed the chairmanship of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States in May 2003,

It shall be presided over by the Head of State or Government of the host country of the Summit up until the following Summit.

Burton Percival Curtis Hall assumed office as Chief Justice and Head of the Judiciary in the Bahamas on 5 September 2001.

At the outset I should like to make some opening remarks as Norway assumes the presidency of the Conference.

Mr. ORFI (Syrian Arab Republic) (translated from Arabic) Allow me first of all, Madam President, to congratulate you on your assumption of the presidency of our Conference.

1991 Appointed as Chief Judge at Common Law in the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

Mrs. KRÁSNOHORSKÁ (Slovakia) Mr. President, please allow me to commence by congratulating you on the assumption of the presidency of the Conference on Disarmament.

At the outset, allow me to congratulate you on the assumption of the presidency of the Conference at the beginning of our session.

The Air Operations Assistant acts as Officer in Charge in the absence of the Chief Aviation Officer.

The Chairpersons met first among themselves under the Chairmanship of Mr. Dumisano Kumalo, Chairperson of the Commission for Social Development, and then with the Bureau of the Council, which was chaired by Mrs. Marjatta Rasi, President of the Council.

They usually occupy positions other than the three most important president, first secretary and first treasurer.

Mr. MACEDO (Mexico) (translated from Spanish) Mr. President, first and foremost allow me to congratulate you on taking the Chair of this Conference.

Mrs. KUROKOCHI (Japan) Mr. President, at the outset, I would like to congratulate you on your assumption of the presidency of the Conference on Disarmament at the beginning of its 1997 session.

At the outset, I would like to extend our gratitude to the Romanian Presidency of the Council for the month of October 2005.

Let me first convey to you my felicitations on your assumption of the presidency of the Conference on Disarmament.

Mr. Adeniji (Nigeria) I would like first of all to congratulate you, Sir, on your assumption of the presidency of the Council for this month.

Mr. BENJELLOUN TOUIMI (Morocco) (translated from French) Mr. President, allow me first of all to congratulate you on taking up the post of President of the Conference on Disarmament.

Mr. ORFI (Syrian Arab Republic) (translated from Arabic) Madam President, allow me to begin by congratulating you on your assumption of the presidency of the Conference on Disarmament.

Mr. REIMAA (Finland) Mr. President, let me start by congratulating you on the assumption of the presidency and assure you of the full cooperation of my delegation.

The principal researcher was recently appointed Chairperson of the Gender Advisory Panel of the United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development.

(b) establish the composition of the incoming Bureau at an early date so that incoming Bureau members can consult with the outgoing Bureau and take part in its work

Our Main Representative has established a unique position of trust and confidence with many of the United Nations key executive management officers.

Mr. DE ALBA (Mexico) (translated from Spanish) Mr. President, allow me first of all to join those delegations which have extended congratulations to you on taking the Chair of the Conference.

Let me say first that, as also my colleague from Italy has underlined, the presidency is really exercised for too short and too ephemeral a period.

At the outset, I should like to make some opening remarks as New Zealand assumes the presidency of this Conference.

He rightly sought to maximize the options open to the first President of the year.

(ii) Report of the outgoing Bureau, by the Chairman.