Good Afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen,

1. Welcome to the Organizational Committee for UNCTAD XI. It gives me great pleasure as a representative of the Host country to review with you a few issues covering the organizational and logistical arrangements for the Conference, as well as the preliminary programme of events. Allow me to provide you with some information on the architecture of the Conference, including the programme.

2. The Conference has a unique architecture with respect to its organization and management. It has three integrated pillars as its foundation, namely an intergovernmental pillar, a second pillar containing a series of conference events, including parallel and side events, and the third pillar comprising a civil society track in the shape of a civil society forum. Cross cutting these three pillars are exhibitions and fairs organized on the basis of relevant thematic content.

3. The intergovernmental pillar is composed of the opening conference events, the inaugural ceremony, a round table of Heads of State and a possible informal meeting of Heads of State present in Sao Paolo on the occasion of the Conference. This pillar includes three tracks: the track of the Committee of the Whole, where the negotiations will be completed on the pre-conference text; a second track relates to the general debate, which will be broadcast live on the web and conducted on the basis of the successful experience at LDC III in Brussels; and a third track devoted to interactive thematic plenary sessions addressing the four subthemes of the agenda, each on a separate day.

4. As to the Conference events, there is a rich menu of parallel and side events, both on site and off site. These events will be organized in such a manner as to enrich the Conference dialogue and debate. You will find that a significant number of organizations are partnering UNCTAD to deliver these round tables and workshops, such as UNIDO, DESA, FAO, ITC, UNDP, UN, UNESCO, Regional Commissions, the Global Compact, ICC, the GSTP and ITTO and other counterparts in Brazil.

5. As to the Civil Society pillar, it is one of the most ambitious attempts so far to integrate Civil Society into the conference in its totality, namely the business community, academia, non-governmental organizations and parliamentarians. The business sector will have an opportunity to conduct a number of events on-site and off-site. Non-governmental organizations, which have already been integrated into the preparatory process through the civil society Hearings, will be able to attend and address the majority of meetings and events during the Conference.

6. All these activities that are before you in the preliminary table of events will be enriched by a number of thematic fairs and exhibitions, which will have a life of their own, with seminars and workshops included in their activities.

7. Let me also emphasize that the Conference will begin on a high note with the holding of the Ministerial Conference of the Group of 77 to celebrate its 40th anniversary under the leadership of the current chair of the Group of 77 in New York, Qatar.

8. Consequently, I would describe the Conference as being multi-product in nature in the sense that, in addition to the agreed text, there will be announcements of partnerships, summaries of debates and extensive outreach to the public. The very architecture of this Conference and its management is in itself a vindication of the theme of the Conference in that it creates coherence on the issues being addressed and in the approach to the results to be achieved.

9. Let me now revert to the General Debate segment. As I explained earlier, the General Debate will be held simultaneously with the interactive thematic sessions. The room will seat about 100-150. However, there will be live webcasting of all statements. Given time constraints, I would ask member States to remind their delegations that speakers are limited to 7 minutes. The list of speakers was opened on 26 March. Delegations should note that Heads of State and Ministers have priority, and other speakers will be inscribed on a first-come-first-serve basis.

10. On 26 March, when it sent out the Notification for UNCTAD XI, the secretariat transmitted a note entitled information for participants (TD/INF.38), together with an information note prepared by the Government of Brazil on accommodation, transportation, and flights to Brazil. Several annexes were included, listing names of hotels, air faire prices and application forms.

11. I would now like to provide you with some information on obtaining visas to Brazil. From 10 May to 15 June, officials from the Brazilian authorities will be at the Palais des Nations for the purpose of processing visas for delegations. A notification to that effect will be circulated by the secretariat in the near future.

12. Following up on information that was sent to all of you on 23 January 2004 about rental office space in São Paulo during UNCTAD XI, during the PrepCom in March the secretariat distributed an office rental kit from FISPAL (a Brazilian company that organizes fairs and exhibitions). FISPAL wishes to remind delegations to reserve their office space by 30 April.

13. The UNCTAD XI website is up and running and I would strongly suggest that all delegations refer to it on a regular basis. It contains information on accreditation, registration, logistical arrangements, such as hotels, as well as the programme of events and a detailed description of the content and organization of the events, including documentation relating to the Conference. In addition there is information on civil society and the press. The site can be accessed at www.unctadxi.org, and there is a link to the official Brazilian UNCTAD XI website.

14. I also take this opportunity to remind delegations of the need to consider their nominations to the Bureau of the Conference, which, according to Rule 22 of the Rules of Procedure, will be composed of 35 members, including the President, the Vice-Presidents, the Chairman of the Main Committee and the Rapporteur of the Conference. As indicated in the annotations to the provisional agenda, the Conference may wish to decide that the composition of the Bureau should be such as to ensure equitable geographical distribution, i.e. 7 members from Africa, 7 from Asia, 7 from Latin America, 9 from Group B, 4 from Group D, and China.

15. Finally, as you have had the information on the logistics for the Conference, I would be grateful to listen to your experience and whether the information made available to you so far has been satisfactory and responsive to the need of your delegations.

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