Mr. President,

Distinguished delegates,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Since this is my first time to take the floor during your tenure, Mr. President, one of my most admired colleagues in Geneva, let me first offer you my warmest congratulations on your assumption of the presidency of the Conference on Disarmament. Although currently facing one of its most difficult challenges, I trust the Conference will be able to engage in most meaningful deliberations under your effective guidance, and I assure you of the full support of my delegation.

I would also like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to H.E. Mr. Sergei Ordzhonikidze , a talented diplomat with enormous experience, on his appointment as Secretary-General of the Conference. I am most confident that the Conference will receive even more valuable and indispensable support from the Secretariat under his leadership.

Mr. President,

Distinguished delegates,

It never occurred to me that I would have to make a farewell statement at such an early stage. It could be seen as oddly hasty that I have to leave the post of disarmament ambassador, which I have valued so much, with the First NPT Preparatory Committee just ten days away. This departure, however, does not represent the waning of my government’s interest in disarmament or its frustration over the current stalemate in the CD. I would like to assure you that this is only a routine change to be followed soon by the appointment of a brilliant successor.

Since I made a general statement just six weeks ago, I do not have anything much to add regarding the current situation in the CD. I would just like to say that today we could be celebrating our 900^th meeting of the CD if the situation were different. Unfortunately, we have nothing to celebrate. Today reminds me of the first plenary meeting of the CD that I attended exactly two years ago. It was the 847^th meeting and, like today, was the last meeting for the first part of the 2000 session. Since then 54 meetings have been held, and yet the CD has neither agreed on a program of work, nor has it engaged in negotiations or substantive discussions. I recall that the shortest meeting I attended lasted a mere three minutes. This stalemate in the CD has indeed been frustrating and regrettable for all of us here, but I do not think this has been just a waste of time. Rather, I see it as an inevitable process which the CD must go through before arriving at a significant agreement. It could be likened to “childbirth pains”. I am certain that the Japanese proverb: “A child born of a difficult delivery grows well” will also prove, in the end, to be true in the CD.

At the same time, however, I firmly believe that this painstaking process cannot, and should not, be sustained too long. The entire international community dearly demands for progress in multilateral disarmament. The CD has been waiting over the past years for a sound international security environment to be created, but neither has this perseverance produced any tangible results, nor has it offered any rosy prospects. Therefore, I firmly believe that it is time for the CD to be more proactive. We all know very well what our differences are with respect to the wording of certain mandates and, in my view, those differences are not so great. I am convinced that, with some more initiatives and ideas, we must be able to reach agreement to commence work in the CD.

Mr. President and distinguished colleagues, we are all fully capable of working out solutions. Again, it is high time for each and every one of us to strengthen our determination and solidarity in order to bridge the existing differences among us. I would like to call upon all delegates to extend maximum assistance and cooperation to our President so that he can lead the Conference to an agreement upon his ingenious initiatives.

Since the terrorist attacks on 11^th September 2001 in the United States, there is increasing international interest in advancing disarmament by multilateral means. Threats to international peace and security appear to be growing more rapidly than expected. The CD can do many things to deal with such threats, once it agrees on a program of work. On the contrary, if the CD remains in its stalemate, I am afraid that the fabric of international security based on the NPT regime will further unravel. In order to contribute to urgent global needs more effectively, I believe that political attention ought to be focused more keenly on the CD. One idea to achieve this could be to hold regular ministerial meetings which would provide the work of the CD with political incentive and dynamism. The first such meeting could be targeted to take place early next year. This would certainly enable the CD to play a more active role in contributing to world peace and security.

Mr. President,

Colleagues and friends,

I would like to thank you very much for the great assistance, encouragement and intellectual input that has been extended to me during my stay in Geneva. Above all, I am most grateful for all the friendships that I have been able to develop here.

Last but not least, I would like to extend my special gratitude to Mr. Roman-Morey, Deputy Secretary-General of the Conference, Mr. Zaleski and all the other staff of the Secretariat for the invaluable professional assistance they have extended to me and my delegation. I would also like to express my sincere appreciation to all the interpreters for their dedication and efficiency.

I thank you very much.