We acknowledge the effort and interest that the Secretary General has devoted to the preparation of this report.

All the talk of an improved NATO European Union partnership is mainly wasted breath.

Under that approach, national ownership was both the starting point and a key objective of the effort to enhance system wide coordination.

The Russo Turkish War, 1735 1739 was the result of the Russian effort to gain Azov and Crimea as a first step towards dominating the Black Sea.

To attempt negotiations under these circumstances would not only be an exercise in futility, but may merely deepen alienation and suspicion on both sides.

The Committee underlined the importance of the effective coordination of system wide efforts against hunger and recommended that CEB include, in its annual overview report for 2004, information on existing mechanisms in that area and on any further initiatives envisaged.

In conclusion, I would like to express the appreciation of Arab States for the intensive and effective efforts made at Vienna under the leadership of Japan to prepare the draft resolution that will be introduced to the Assembly today.

Such a campaign will be doubly beneficial (a) it will generate public support for the anti cartel effort, resulting in greater willingness to assist the competition agency in its investigations and cases, and (b) it will help build support for more severe sanctions against cartel operators.