III.1 Proposed by the Delegate of Hungary, and endorsed by Canada, Thailand and Benin, Mr Peter King (Australia) was elected as Chairperson by acclamation. The following members of the Committee were elected as Vice-Chairpersons by acclamation: Canada, Ecuador, Finland, Morocco and Thailand. Mr. Dawson Munjeri (Zimbabwe) was elected as Rapporteur.

III.2 The Committee warmly thanked the out-going Chairperson, Mr Abdelaziz Touri for the excellent leadership he provided the Committee during the past year which had resulted in closer working relations between the Committee and the Secretariat.

III.3 The newly-elected Chairperson, Mr Peter King, expressed his appreciation for the remarkable manner in which Mr Touri carried out his functions as Chairperson of the Committee. He pointed out that this had resulted in several important initiatives taken during his tenure of office and thanked all Committee members for electing him into office. Mr King further highlighted regional initiatives and concluded by stating his commitment to a new partnership in the World Heritage movement and to finding new ways of encouraging practical support for heritage conservation. (His speech is attached as Annex VI).