 Your Excellency Ambassador Kairama, Chair of the WIPO General Assembly, Honourable Ministers, Your Excellency, the Ambassadors and Permanent Representatives and Distinguished Delegates. It's really a great pleasure for me to join the Chair of the WIPO Assembly, whom I should also like to thank for her leadership. To join her in welcoming you all to the first WIPO Assembly is to be held in this new conference hall, this new building. The completion of the conference hall marks the termination of a building program that has lasted for six years now. It has produced the very successful new building, which has been occupied by WIPO staff for three years now, and what we hope will be an equally successful new conference hall with improved connected meeting rooms and facilities for member states. The new conference hall has been a challenging project and we shall celebrate its opening officially tonight, on which occasion I will have the opportunity to thank the many, many persons who were involved in this project. But please allow me to mention two in particular at this meeting and to pay tribute to them, namely Mr Ambi Sundaram, the Assistant Director-General for Administration and Management, and Ms Isabel Boutillon, the Director of our Premises Infrastructure Division. Both of them have done outstanding work in bringing a complex project to completion largely on budget. And I think you would agree it's really a magnificent facility. We'll talk about it tonight, but please allow me one just personal observation at this stage. I must say I think that one of the things that the architect has achieved very well is the integration of the podium with the delegations. There is very little separation and indeed the fullness of the hall I think is occupied by the delegations and the podium is reduced, if I may say, with the exception of the chair to its appropriate position, without it being too important. The past year has seen continued health and stability in the financial condition of the organisation. We completed the last biennium that's 2012 and 2013 with an overall surface of 34.6 million Swiss francs. And that was achieved on income of 680 million, which was 5.1% higher than our budgeted forecasts, largely due to the growth in our global IP systems, particularly the Patent Cooperation Treaty. Expenditure was 612 million for the biennium, which was 5.6% lower than the budgeted forecasts. And that, those savings were achieved mainly through cost efficiencies, new or the productivity gains in terms of IT systems and new management tools, and I'd say the judicious use of outsourcing in certain areas. The reserves are in a sound condition. Our net assets stand at 209 million Swiss francs and that is above the target level that you, the Member States, have set for our reserves. We're still at an early stage in the new biennium 2014-2015, but on the basis of current indications in the first eight months of that biennium, I think that we can say that we are certainly on track to meet the budget forecasts and expectations and all things being equal, which is not necessarily the best assumption in a world economy that is still beset by hesitant recovery, I think, and low visibility, but all things being equal, we would expect to again go through this biennium achieving a modest overall budget surplus. The sound financial condition of the organisation results from our global IP systems, the Patent Cooperation Treaty, the PCT, the Madrid system for trademarks and the Hague system for industrial designs. I think I would like to say that over the last 10 years, when we look at these systems, we see that membership, both membership and use of the systems have increased very, very significantly. In the case of the PCT, I set these figures out in the text of my speech, so perhaps it's a bit perplexing to go into all of the figures, but allow me just to mention a few. In the case of the PCT, membership has increased by 19%, so that we now stand at 148 Member States. Applications have increased by nearly 70% over the last 10 years, from about 120,000 to about 200,000, or 205,000. Last year, in fact, was the first year in which we exceeded in a single year 200,000 international patent applications. In the case of the Madrid system, it's a similar, if not better story. Memberships increased by 37% over the past 10 years, to 92 contracting parties, and international applications have increased by 60%, so that they now stand at about 46,000. The Hague system, it's the same story, but on a much, much, of course, smaller scale. In the course of the last 10 years, we see that memberships increased, in fact, by 150%, and applications by 120%, to about 3,000 international applications. I think that these are very impressive figures, and I think that they demonstrate that these systems are very good examples of successful international cooperation. In addition, of course, the systems are the basis of the revenue of the organization, accounting for 95% of that revenue. I think these are all good reasons to say that WIPO's global IP systems should be one of the essential priorities of the organization in the coming six years. As such, we shall endeavor to oversee the continued geographical expansion of the system, so that they are truly global in their reach, as well as the continued improvement in the electronic operating environments of the systems, which account for our productivity gains, as well as an enhanced level of service to all of the member states and users. It will continue to be important that the systems remain cost effective, and I'm very pleased to recall in this regard that over the last six years, despite considerable augmentations in the workload, there has been no fee increase in any of the systems, and that cost effectiveness improves the accessibility of the systems. The most challenging part of the organization's program is the normative agenda. The member states have successfully negotiated over the past two years two new treaties, the Beijing Treaty, on audiovisual performances, and the Marrakesh Treaty to facilitate access to published works for persons who are blind, visually impaired or otherwise print disabled. Accessions to these new treaties have started, and I would urge all member states to give strong consideration to exceeding to these new treaties, so as to convert the hard work that went into concluding the treaties into new accessions, which will in turn convert the potential of the treaties into realized gains for actors and for visually impaired persons, as well as for the multilateral intellectual property framework. Progress on the new normative projects has been slower in the past 12 months, although I think that the membership has achieved important advances in understanding of the issues and in understanding of the respective positions of the member states. I would urge you to use the present session of the assemblies to try to set concrete work programs to achieve the successful completion of our normative, more mature normative projects, and I refer in particular in this regard to projects on a proposed design law treaty where the text of the treaty is essentially agreed. And I refer also to broadcasting where we need a roadmap to a successful conclusion, and to traditional knowledge, traditional cultural expressions, and genetic resources, where the experts, I think, have prepared the stage for negotiations that I hope in the course of the coming months will be able to identify an achievable and successful outcome. Looking ahead, I think that we all recognize that the normative agenda will remain a challenging area in the coming years. Discussions are underway amongst the member states to improve the efficiency of the many, if not too many, meetings that are sponsored by the organization in this regard. I hope that you will be able to work out an efficient operating framework for meetings, which enables the membership to focus on those areas where there is agreement to work towards viable outcomes. I believe that there is a widely held view that the normative committees should concentrate on normative work and that exploratory and learning discussions on the many new and interesting issues that are thrown up by the advance of technology, globalization, and the revolution in the production, distribution, and consumption of creative works are better served through occasional conferences in which outcomes are not determined in advance of a shared understanding and widespread consensus on the need to address a particular subject matter through a normative action. I hope that any reform in the operating framework for committees will strengthen rather than reduce the political will to advance multilateral cooperation. It's apparent to all, I think, that we're experiencing a multi-speed and a multi-tiered world in which international cooperation is pursued in different fora and different forms. I hope that the multilateral will not be forgotten in this new world. WIPO has, over its long life, built a convincing framework in more than 20 treaties for international cooperation in intellectual property in the interests of innovation and creative works. I hope that the careful and judicious addition of new solutions that add real value in the complex arena that now constitutes international cooperation will feature amongst the political will and the priorities that member states set for the coming years. I would like to draw attention to some of the newer platforms of cooperation that the organization has developed over the past few years and that are rather less visible than the normative program or the cooperation achieved through normative projects. I refer here to our global IP databases, Patenscope and the Global Brands database, to platforms to facilitate cooperation in the delivery of services by IP officers such as centralized access to search and examination reports or our digital access service. Platforms for public-private cooperation such as WIPO research, the accessible books consortium, access to research for development and innovation and access to specialized patent information and systems for the modernization of IP officers and agencies such as intellectual property automation system and the WIPO copyright information system. I realize that that's a really quite a bewildering array of acronyms and names that is quite difficult to digest, but I would like to take the time to emphasize several things about these platforms. First, in the first place I think we've made tremendous progress over the past six years in this area. Most of these platforms did not previously exist. Secondly, the platforms are all voluntary and they are formed on an a la carte basis in which member states decide whether and how they will participate. They rely on the involvement of member states, of course, and member states, I'm pleased to say, have had an engagement which is very significant and very positive in all of these platforms. Thirdly, I think that the platforms are very effective vehicles for achieving a number of shared policy objectives. Let me mention several of them, the improved efficiency and operation of the IP system worldwide in the interests of innovators and creators. A much richer economic and business intelligence for policy makers to take decisions as well as for businesses and enterprises to take decisions. The practical advancement of agreed policy positions, for example the Accessible Books Consortium, is helping, is trying to help in the implementation of the Marrakech Treaty and effective capacity building and technical assistance that delivers real benefits to the developing and least developed countries. I've dwelt on this technical area at the risk of losing you because I think that we're sometimes too pessimistic about the achievements of international cooperation. And we tend to focus in this pessimism on the normative agenda and too often overlook platforms that can in certain contexts be as effective in achieving in advancing international cooperation as treaties. And in addition I would like to underline that all these platforms are very good examples of the implementation of the objective of the development agenda of mainstreaming development. This whole program, much of which is specifically designed for developing countries, has been constructed outside our formal development sector, principally in the global infrastructure sector, but also in the global issues sector and the culture and creative industries sector. And I think it demonstrates how much we have been able to mainstream development. In addition to our numerous platforms, our general technical assistance and capacity building program will continue to be a central priority. We seek to hear, of course, to work closely with member states to achieve outcomes that address the particular economic circumstances and aspirations of the developing and least developed countries. I would like to draw attention in particular to the important work in capacity building that is done by the WIPO Academy. Over 40,000 persons are enrolled each year in the distance learning courses of run by the WIPO Academy. 49% of them are coming from developing countries and 40% from countries with economies in transition and courses and tutoring services are available in seven languages. In order to meet the many challenges that lie ahead for the organization, we need first class staff and I would like to place on record here or to take this opportunity to thank the staff of WIPO for their professional and dedicated service. The number of total staff has remained static over the past six years despite considerable increases in the workload. And this increased productivity is a result not just of improved IT systems and new management tools but also of the hard work of the staff. I'm very pleased to present to these assemblies my proposals for the new senior management team. We undertook an extensive process to arrive at those proposals which included reviewing applications for available positions from 360 persons. And I would like to thank all member states for their very constructive engagement in this process and I look forward to working closely with the new senior management team which I believe is an outstanding team. I should like to thank the outgoing members of the senior management team for their work over the past five years. There have been many successful outcomes over that period and members of the senior management team have played an indispensable role in achieving those outcomes. So distinguished delegates I think if I may say in conclusion that we are living through a period in which innovation has become central to the economic system and to society's capacities to address the numerous challenges that it faces. We are likewise experiencing I think the most profound revolution in the production, distribution and consumption of creative and cultural works for the past 600 years since the introduction of the printing press. Intellectual property is integral to both of those developments. And I hope that in the coming six years the organization will be able to play an important role in developing policies, platforms and cooperation that will respond to the magnitude of the challenges that are arising from this centrality of innovation and from the digital revolution. Thank you very much.