60th Anniversary Session of UN Economic Commission for Europe (ECE)

Unofficial translation from Russian

PRESS RELEASE

The 60th anniversary session of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) opened in Geneva on February 22. This year it is dedicated to questions of implementation of the agreements of the International Conference on Financing for Development in the ECE Region, including in the context of the future work of the Commission on promoting growth in transition economies.

In the course of the general political debate the leader of the Russian delegation, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Yuri Fedotov, affirmed the interest of Russia in further intensifying and enhancing the effectiveness of the activities of the Economic Commission for Europe - one of the really functioning mechanisms ensuring the participation of all states in European economic cooperation . A special emphasis in his statement was laid on the necessity to strengthen the role of the Commission in the mobilization and efficient use of international financial and technical assistance in support of reforms in the CIS countries.

It is presumed that, during the session, the member countries of the ECE will determine what the regional contribution of the Commission will be to the preparation of a high-level plenary meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on the evaluation of the progress made in carrying out the Millennium Development Goals (Summit 2005).

February 24, 2005