 This year's Congress gathers 190 delegates from over 40 countries. It's an opportunity to look back at the excellent work of the inaugural Congress last year. Moreover, it's an opportunity to look forward and say we want to go even further in addressing persistent and evolving threats in the field of chemical and explosive terrorism. The global Congress brings together an array of competencies, approaches and experience to advance practical solutions in support of global chemical security. In 2018, Interpol data showed that over 1,300 IED attacks took place across the globe with devastating consequences. These attacks resulted in over 12,000 casualties, the vast majority civilians. Those are your communities, your people. At the international level, the centrality of preventive efforts in this domain are enshrined in the UN Security Council Resolution 1540. This resolution calls on the global community to prevent the proliferation of chemical, biological and radiological weapons and materials to non-state actors. An integral piece of your work. Interpol is committed to supporting this international effort. Our counter-terrorism strategy aims to prevent and disrupt terrorist activities by addressing enabling factors such as travel and mobility, online presence, weapons and materials and financial instruments such as new and emerging forms of cryptocurrencies. In terms of chemical and explosive terrorism prevention, chemical security and safety are paramount. They underlie the entire chemical life cycle from development, transportation and storage of chemicals through to their use and disposal. Ladies and gentlemen, identifying vulnerabilities in these supply chains. No different than economic supply chains around the world. These chemical precursors and component parts and establishing best practices for addressing these issues will enable us to prevent the misuse thereby saving lives. Interpol supports member countries to counter the use of chemicals and terrorist incidents through information exchange, intelligence analysis and operational support. Specialized programs such as Watchmaker enable us to look at IED trends, identify patterns and signatures of devices and trace the people who make them. Interpol's strategy is designed to keep pace with the dynamic evolving changes in terrorist threats and tactics and the related new demands on law enforcement in member countries. Interpol's innovative center conducts deeper dives into other emerging areas such as the global roll out of 5G and connected cars. The counter-terrorism directive partners with these colleagues and several topics in order to benefit from these Bureau's respective expertise and identifying the most pressing issues to our 194 member countries. Ladies and gentlemen, colleagues in closing, I'm confident that the partnerships developed between law enforcement, the chemical industry, governments will enhance our collective ability to detect, deter and disrupt acts of chemical and explosive terrorism. This is tough work. This is a very highly accountable area of law enforcement and private public partnership. I wish you well. I thank you for your commitment and your dedication to this effort. I wish you a very productive and rewarding Congress and look forward to its results. Thank you.