Ministers and high-level governmental representatives from 111 Member
States of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), including 19
Ministers, are meeting in Vienna this week for the 43rd regular session of the
General Conference. The Conference opened today, 27 September, and is scheduled
to last through 1 October 1999 at the Austria Center Vienna.
The opening session included a
message from the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi
Annan.
The Conference's General Debate began
with statements by Ministers from Finland, Mr. Erkki Tuomioja; Slovakia, Mr.
Pavol Ham(ík; Japan, Mr. Yamato Inaba; the Republic of Korea, Mr. Jung
Uck Seo; and Morocco, H.E. Ambassador Abderrahim Benmoussa.
D elegates elected as President of the
conference, H.E. Prof. Dr. Abderrahmane Kadri, Chairman of the Algerian Atomic
Energy Commission. They also elected H.E. Ambassador Abderrahim Benmoussa,
Resident Representative of Morocco to the IAEA, as Chairperson of the Committee
of the Whole.
Among items on the Conference's
provisional agenda, delegates will be asked to approve the Agency's 2000
regular budget which calls for total programme expenditures of US $226.3
million at an exchange rate of AS 12.70. per US$. Additionally, the Conference
will be asked to approve a target of US $73 million for voluntary contributions
towards the Agency's technical co-operation fund for 2000.
Throughout the week, delegates will
be considering a range of topics on the peaceful development of nuclear
technologies. They include those related to further strengthening the IAEA's
programmes in areas of nuclear, radiation, and waste safety; technical
co-operation; and the safeguards system. Other items on the provisional agenda
include measures against illicit trafficking in nuclear materials and other
radioactive sources; implementation of the safeguards agreement with the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea; and implementation of UN Security
Council resolutions relating to Iraq.
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