 Mr. Chairman, Mr. Secretary-General, my fellow directors from the BDT and TSB, Excellencies, distinguished colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, I would also like to welcome you to this second session of the conference preparatory meeting for WRC 19. Let me share with you how thrilled I am about being here with all of you this morning. This is my first major ITUR meeting as director of the Radio Communication Bureau and I feel honored to be succeeding in this position my two highly respected predecessors, Valerie Timofiev and Francois Ranci, who we have the pleasure of having with us today. As you know, this CPM 19-2 is without any doubt a major step in the preparation for WRC 19, which will take place in Sharmshake, Egypt, later this year. The extent of interest in the matters to be discussed is clearly evident from the numbers present in this room. As you surely remember, the first session of CPM for WRC 19, held immediately after WRC 15, identified the studies to be carried out by the ITUR study groups in preparation for the next WRC. It agreed on a structure for the draft CPM report to WRC 19 and appointed reporters for the six chapters of the report to assist the chairman and vice chairman in managing the development of the draft CPM report. All the ITUR study groups have been involved in one way or another in the preparation for this meeting and all of the draft CPM texts were completed before the agreed deadline of 31st August 2018. To illustrate the complexity of the studies performed, let me refer to the over 2,300 pages of text including the TG 51 chairman's report to address the sharing and compatibility of the mobile service with a number of existing radio communication services such as satellite communication and passive services. This example clearly demonstrates the extent of the work carried out by the study groups. After more than three years of intensive and exhaustive preparatory studies, I would like to express my deep appreciation for all the successful work accomplished by you, our membership under the excellent leadership of the responsible groups chairman. I'm very confident that the remaining ITUR recommendations and reports referred to in the CPM report will be adopted prior to the radio communications assembly. The draft CPM report constitutes document one of this concession. The radio communication bureau for each part also prepared several documents which will be presented at the appropriate time. The many items addressed in all the contributions before you are numerous and far-reaching. Almost all of the radio communication services and many different frequency bands are either explicitly referred to or concerned by a WRC 19 agenda item or issue. Many of these items relate to complex and delicate issues of frequency sharing seeking to allow services with significantly differing characteristics to coexist in the same part of the spectrum. Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to remind you that CPM is not where final treaty decisions are made. So this is not the WRC. CPM's task is to deliver a report to the WRC setting out the technical, operational, regulatory and procedural up-to-date information. The information to be included in the report should represent to the extent possible reconciled differences in approaches as contained in the source material or in the case where these approaches cannot be reconciled, the inclusion of the differing views and their justification. The CPM reports to the past WRC conferences were used extensively by member states to prepare their proposals or common proposals to the conference. They also provided useful information for the deliberations at the conference itself. Dear Chairman, I am confident that you will do everything you can to ensure that this second session of CPM 19 works as efficiently as possible during these two weeks. And I rely on the delegates present here in this room to contribute to the success of this preparatory meeting by using their expertise and knowledge to understand the interests and constraints of the other parties and to offer the best solutions towards achieving consensus at WRC 19. Dear colleagues, I am very optimistic about the outcome of the work that will be accomplished during the coming days. The deliberations taking place in this CPM will certainly pave the way to a successful world radio communication conference later this year and your decisions will have a huge impact on the future development of radio communication technologies which have become so indispensable to our daily lives and to the functioning of so many different sectors. The expectations with regard to IMT 2020, HABS, non-GSO or even GSO satellite systems are high. These systems have the potential to improve broadband speeds and the connectivity of millions of people. Other equally important topics include maritime, aeronautical, amateur issues or the development of intelligent transport systems as well as meteorological and earth exploration satellite systems that provide crucial services to agriculture to monitor natural resources and to forecast climate change. Dear friends, as always, the secretariat is ready to assist in whatever way it can. Our various teams in ITU have been working hard for many months to make this meeting a success and they are at your disposal. In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, I wish this second session of CPM 19 every success and I thank you very much for your attention.