 Your Excellencies Distinguished delegates ladies and gentlemen welcome to the 67th IAEA channel conference May I please ask you to return to your seats as we are about to start shortly Please return to your seats. Thank you very much and wishing you all a successful week here. Thank you Ladies and gentlemen may I please ask you to take your seats We are about to start now Please return to your seats Thank you Good morning ladies and gentlemen. May we kindly ask everyone to take your respective seats so we can start with the proceedings of the general conference. Thank you very much Distinguished delegates good morning. We are going to start please distinguished delegates Good morning and welcome We are going to start now Thank you very much for taking your seats, so we can Start the general conference Thank you very much distinguished delegates. Good morning. I wish to welcome all of you to the first plenary meeting of the 67th regular session of the general conference I wish to inform delegates that in accordance with rule 33 of the rules of procedure of the general conference and In the absence of the delegate of Italy whose delegation presided over the conference last year I as director general shall preside until the general conference has elected a president for the session I I Take this opportunity on behalf of all delegations to express my sincere appreciation to his Excellency ambassador Alessandro Cortese of Italy for the skillful and professional manner in which He presided over last year's session. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors Dear colleagues and the rule 48 of the rules of procedure I now invite the conference to Observe a minute of silence dedicated to prayer and Meditation, please. Thank you very much very good Thank you May we now pass on to our first order of business Which is indeed the election of officers and the appointment of the general committee and I invite a nomination for the office of the president of the general conference during 67th regular session as all of you know, it is the turn of the Southeast Asia and The Pacific group to provides to provide this year's president and I now Give the floor to the distinguished resident representative of Australia In his capacity as chair of the Southeast Asia and the Pacific group You may address us from your seat ambassador. You have a floor. Thank you director general On behalf of the Southeast Asia and the Pacific group I have the pleasure to inform you that the group wishes to nominate Ex-NC dr. Villawan man cut and I call Ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand To be president of the 67th general conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency Thank you director general. Thank you very much ambassador I thank you for this nomination On behalf of your group. There being no other nominations I then Propose that her excellency miss villa one my letter knuckle Ambassador and resident representative of Thailand be elected by acclamation President of the general conference during the 67th regular sec session. It is so decided Her excellency miss villa one my knuckle is thus elected president of the conference by acclamation On behalf of all delegates and on my own behalf. I would like to offer Her our warm congratulations and also our good wishes for a successful conference And I invite her to take the chair and in doing so appeal to all Delegates in the interest of saving time and in accordance with the decision taken by the conference several years ago and Successfully implemented since then to reserve their congratulatory statements to her until they make their general debate statements Excellencies director general Rafael Mariano crossy Disinquished delegates Ladies and gentlemen First and foremost it is my profound gratitude and great honor For the trust places in me to serve as a president of the 67 regular sessions of the general conference. I Take great pride in being only the sixth woman of To have been elected to this esteem position since the establishment of the agency in 1957 In this privilege role, I am fully committed to leading our proceedings and deliberations with your support and Cooperation to a successful conclusion of the general conference. I Wish to express My special gratitude to all the members of the Southeast Asia and the Pacific group In particular to Australia as its chair for their nomination as well as support and encouragement My deep appreciation also extends to his Excellency Alessandro Cortese of Italy for his able stewardship during the past year conference both at the regular and special sessions. I Take this opportunity to commend director general Rafael Mariano crossy for his exceptional Leadership and unwavering commitment to steering the works of the agency. I Must also comment the entire staff of the agency for their variable works and continued support Distinguished delegates the IAEA's holds a pivotal role in Accelerating and enlarging the contributions of atomic energy to peace health and prosperity throughout the world as in China in its statute Over its 67 years of service the agency has achieved remarkable success From fostering cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy to ensuring nuclear safety security and safeguards While upholding the norms against nuclear proliferation The agency continued to be an impetus for the promotion of collaboration diplomacy and innovation to secure a safer and more sustainable future for all While celebrating the agency achievement for the past 67 years It is essential to remember that the future of the agency being a member states driven organization rest in your hands It is our response chair responsibility to ensure that the agency progress effectively and remains responsive to emerging needs and challenges We must strive to ensure that the agency motor Atoms for peace and development remains relevant and that's the benefits from the peaceful uses of nuclear energies along lasting This thing wish delegates it is the very purpose of our work gathering this week To deliberate on the future direction of the agency Before us lies numerous issues that await our consideration Some will address the routine operation of the agency for the coming year Some will aim to enhance the techno technical aspect of its work and Others will reflect on the situations that are critical to the agency We will hear views those that are common and those that differ But I do not see this as Opticals I see them as an ample opportunity to make use of our Vienna spirit and to work our diplomacy towards reaching balance and consensual outcomes The week ahead of us will not be easy as a president I pledge to serve the general conference with transparency accountability and inclusivity I will do my utmost To the best of my abilities to address your questions and concerns At the same time it is my fervent hope and humble call to all of you to adopt a Consensual consent a constructive approach and engage in meaningful dialogues These I believe is the path that will lead us to productive results and the timely conclusion of the general conference Lastly, I look forward to working closely with you and To the success outcome of this general conference. Thank you very much Disengaged delegates. I now Suggest that we continue with the election of officers and the appointment of the general committee Under rules 34 and 40 of the rule of procedure The conference has to elect the duration for the duration of the present session eight White president the chair of the committee of the whole and six additional of the general committee Resulting in a committee of 15 members with me as its chairman chairperson However, I understand that this year the general committee will be composed of 16 members consisting of eight white presidents the chairman of the committee of the whole and six additional members So that the area of Southeast Asia and the Pacific in addition to providing the president of the conference Can also have whites president This will involve Suspensions of rules 34 and 40 of the rules of procedure of the general conference And I am advised that this has been done in comparable situations in the parts. I See no objection to that. It is so decided. I Understand that the group area groups has provided their candidates with the exception of the Mesa group for the election of For the position of the white's president I choose therefore like to submit your for your consideration and approval The following proposal which I have already received. I will then address the issue of the pending candidates As the seven vice presidents, I should like to propose the delegates of the following members I will read the names in the English alphabetical order as I have been informed Australia China Colombia France Kenya Russia Federation United States of America As chair persons of the committee of the whole I propose Mr. Vilmos Chiaveni Minister Permanent Mission of Hungary as and as the six additional members of the general committee The delegates of the following member states and again I shall read the names in English alphabetical orders as I have been informed Canada Denmark Honduras Poland Sudan United Arab Emirates. I assume that my proposals are acceptable and Accordingly, I take it that the chairperson of the committee of the whole and the delegates of the member states whose name I have read Out are Julie elected the seven of eight white presidents and the six additional members of the general committee It's all decided now With regards to the nominations of a white president from the Mesa group I have been informed by the chair of the group that it has received One candidature for the position of white president of the conference However, the group was not in a position to make an agreed recommendation on this to this Candidature So may I ask the chair of the Mesa group if he could provide any update on the matter? Thank you, madam president As you have rightly stated Consensus has eluded the group in so far as its efforts to make an agreed recommendation On the one candidature for the position of vice president from the group for which there is only one candidate I thank you madam president I thank the distinguished delegates of India for his update. Are there any speakers on these matters? All comments and views will be expressed in the official records of the meeting. I Understand yes German please I Any other speaker? So if there is no more speakers on this, may I take it that the conference agree that Yemen will be in the positions of one white president of the conference. Dissinquist delegates, I accordingly declare the chairman of the committee of the whole and the delegates of the member states whose name I have read out duly elected at the state white president and the six additional members of the conference, of the general committee. It's all decided. All of them will hold office until the close of the conference current session. On your behalf and on my own behalf, I would like to offer them my warmest congratulations. I look forward to working closely with them with a will to ensuring a successful conference this week. I shall be requesting the white president to take the chair from time to time and I hope that they will make themselves available when called upon to do so. I further declare the general committee duly appointed. I propose to holding the first meeting of the general committee today in the afternoon at 2 p.m. This will take place in meeting room 4, the 7-4 C building of the VIC. So further, I would like to seek your concurrent that we deal with the items of the provisional agenda in the morning. As contained in document GC67-1, in the following order pending receipt of the general committee's recommendations on our provisional agenda. Item 3, message from the secretary general of the United States, United Nations. Item 4, statement by the director general. And item 6, approval of the appointment of the director general. And I propose that we take up item 7, contributions to the technical cooperation fund for 2024. And item 8, general debate and annual report for 2022. Therefore, I propose to suspend rules 42 of the rule of procedures of the general conference. This is consistent with past practice failure to proceed in this way may consider we delay the start of the general debate in which several ministers are scheduled to speak today. So may I take it that the conference accept my proposal to suspend rules 42 and proceed with consideration of the items as envisaged in the provisional agenda. Any comment? It's so decided. Distinguished delegates, let's now move on to item 3. I have the great pleasure for inviting Ms. Gada Fatiwali, director general of the United Nations office at Vienna, to deliver a message to the general conference from the secretary general of the United Nations. I greet the floor to Ms. Gada Fatiwali and invite her to address the conference from the lectern. Good morning, everyone. Director general Grossi, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, I'm honored to be with you today to read out the message of the secretary general of the United Nations, Mr. Antonio Guterres, to this conference. It is a pleasure to send greetings to everyone participating in the general conference of the international atomic energy agency. In these times of turmoil and tension, the IAEA's role as a bulwark against nuclear proliferation and the driver of international cooperation for the peaceful uses of nuclear energy is more critical than ever before. In Ukraine, the war continues to pause grave risk to the safety and security of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. I fully support the IAEA's five principles for protecting the Zaporizhia plant, and I applaud the courageous service of IAEA personnel stationed at the plant. The United Nations will continue to do all it can to ensure the safe rotation of experts operating there and at other nuclear facilities in Ukraine. In Iran, the IAEA continues its essential role in impartially and expertly monitoring the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, while seeking sustainable solutions to the outstanding issues regarding Iran's nuclear program. The JCPOA remains vital to the global nuclear non-proliferation architecture and to regional and international security. Across the world, the IAEA's technical cooperation program supports over 140 member states demonstrating how nuclear science and technology can improve lives and catalyze progress on the sustainable development goals. The IAEA is an indispensable partner in our collective efforts to secure a better future for all from fighting diseases and improving food, water and energy security to mitigating and adapting to climate change and preventing the next pandemic. I look forward to deepening our cooperation on all these fronts and I wish you a successful general conference. Thank you. I thank Ms. Galafati Wali for her presence with us and on behalf of the General Conference, I would like to ask her to convey to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Antonio Gutárez, our appreciation for his message. Distinguished delegates, we now come to item four and I have great pleasure in inviting the Director-General, Mr. Rafael Mariano-Gossi, to make his statement to the General Conference. Good morning, Egan, and it is a real pleasure and I'm present to have you and congratulations on assuming this very important office on our behalf. Let me begin by welcoming the Gambia and Cabo Berde as new member states of the IAEA since our last General Conference. This brings our membership to 177 member states. I want to start by referring to important events that have been occupying our work for the last year, but before saying that I want to say that in doing so, we have to be reminded of the fact that four years ago when I started my first term as Director-General, I don't think that any of us imagined that a few months down the line we would be dealing with a pandemic, the global magnitude of which the world had not experienced for a century. And if that were not enough, we are now faced with a war in Europe in which for the first time the safety, thank you, and the security of a major nuclear power program are under serious threat. These two events are tragic in and on themselves, but they also make it more difficult and urgent to tackle the ever more present calamity of climate change and the very serious challenges of poverty, disease, hunger and food, water and energy insecurity. I feel humbled and privileged to lead this institution with such a unique mandate. 70 years after the United States President, Dwight Eisenhower gave his famous speech to the United Nations General Assembly, his Atoms for Peace, as you may remember vision, has become an important active part of our contribution towards international peace and security and furthering sustainable development. The IAEA is the operational instrument of this noble cause. When I started as Director General, I was convinced of the formidable potential of this institution as an instrument for peace, stability and progress and the delivery of a program since then it is the most obvious illustration of the approach I have taken. We may begin with our work assisting member states in tackling a growing crisis that has gone under the radar for too long, the global cancer crisis. My first year as DG, 10 million people died of cancer and there were 19 million new cases. By 2040 the number of new cases will jump to 30 million. Businesses usual continues far too many people will die of cancer in the coming decades because the burden of this crisis is falling disproportionately on those who have less, low and middle income countries. Over 70% of Africans do not have any access to radiotherapy. More than 20 countries on that continent don't have a single simple radiotherapy machine. This is why we launch Raise of Hope, Cancer Care for All at last year's African Union Summit with the support of African heads of state and the World Health Organization. The initiative brings together all stakeholders including member states, development banks and the private sector to redress this situation. 67 member states have already requested to be assisted by Raise of Hope. So far we have started with seven African countries and we are moving on. In the coming months, Raise of Hope will begin to apply funds for activities in Latin America and Caribbean states. And since this program was started, I have to say that we have been able to gather more than 42 million euros for this cost which I should remind did not exist in the agenda of the IAEA until just a few years ago. So we are very proud of that, but we have to do more. We were also referring to the pandemic and COVID-19 also brought home the message and the idea and the urgency to do something in applying nuclear techniques in order to mitigate this crisis. This is why we launch Zodiac, the Zoonotic Disease Integrated Action, which is strengthening member states preparedness and ability to quickly respond to zoonotic diseases and to do that we work together with WHO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, FAO and the World Organization for Animal Health. Almost 100 countries have already received training in this regard. The environment is another area where nuclear techniques and applications have a very important role to play. And this is why we launch Nutech Plastics, which increases member states' capacity to use nuclear isotopic techniques to study microplastics in the ocean. At our marine environment laboratories in Monaco, scientists are honing powerful and accurate nuclear scientific tools to better understand the impact of such nanomaterials along the marine food chain and all the way to our dinner place. At the 2023 UN Water Conference in New York earlier this year, we launch the Global Water Analysis Laboratory Network, GLOWAL, which is helping member states address water scarcity, quality, water quality, hydrological extremes, challenges being accelerated, all of them by climate change. I also refer to our collaboration with FAO, with whom we have a unique joint center. We are preparing with them both initiatives to better access to nutritious foods and food security to be addressed effectively. And as I said, very soon we will be making important announcements in this regard. Our technical cooperation program thus moves on successfully. As requested by the General Conference last year, I plan to organize the IAEA Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Science, Technology and Applications and the Technical Cooperation Program next year. And I am happy to announce that the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation of Ghana, Dr. Kwaku Afriye and Mr. Kai Mikhanen, Minister for Climate and the Environment of Finland, Ghana and Finland will be presiding this important conference. When I started in 2019, as I was saying, one of my first trips abroad was to that year's Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Climate Change, the famous COP. And since then, we have been attending this conference, continuing in Glasgow, then on in Sharmer Shake, and then this year to the COP 28 meeting in the United Arab Emirates, where a nuclear pavilion has been set up and we will be working with member states and participants in that conference who are users of nuclear energy to underscore the role of nuclear energy in this regard. This was evident last year in Washington at our International Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Power in the 21st century, where many countries, confirmed users and newcomers participated, confirming this will to also benefit from the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. Ladies and gentlemen, until the past few years, we have not been vocal enough about the benefits of nuclear power, but that page has been turned. Even as public opinion polls around the world show the tide turning in favor of nuclear energy, countries still need to engage stakeholders openly and proactively in their nuclear power programs. Concerted effort and action are warranted at an international scale and therefore this spring there will be a summit on nuclear energy. Next spring. So both decisions are required and then we will be working together to support the work there, more than 400 nuclear reactors being in operation. Some 10 percent of the installed capacity and more to come and helping countries exceed to new avenues in nuclear like small and modular reactors. Further down the line, nuclear fusion promises the possibility of abundant energy. Four years ago, IEA activities on fusion were exclusively focused on science. Today, we have expanded our efforts aiming also to accelerate development and deployment of fusion energy systems. We have come a long way and I invite you to take stock of this progress next month in London at our bi-annual fusion energy conference where we'll be launching a new publication, the IEA World Fusion Outlook, to update people and communities all over the world as to the developments on this exciting area of knowledge. Climate change requires us to take long-term responsibility for the well-being of our planet and of its people. The nuclear field with the IEA at its center takes its long-term responsibility very serious whether in finding solutions to safely storing waste, designing the commissioning into nuclear power plants that will serve us for the good part of the century or by having an ever-learning mindset when it comes to building a culture of nuclear safety and security that spans the globe. Nuclear energy is safer than it has ever been and it's safer than almost any other source of energy. This is in large part because of the field's commitment and the role of the IEA. This year is the 65th anniversary of the IAEA safety standards. Today, the IEA is using those standards, its statutory mandate, its scientific knowledge and its global reach actively to help protect the environment from the consequences of a nuclear accident. And this is exactly what we are doing in Japan where last month the control discharge of water started and the IAEA is performing an independent monitoring, sampling and evaluation of the situation there. To do that, the IEA has set up a permanent office at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. And we will continue, as I said, until the last drop for decades, I say decades to come to make sure that no harm will come out of this important operation. I alluded, dear colleagues, to the war in Ukraine at the very start of my remarks. When we met a year ago, I reported to you that the IAEA had just established an ongoing presence at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. The Secretary General and the message delivered by my dear friend, Gara, refer to that, thank you very much. We continue, we are not going anywhere, we will continue there. Fifty-three missions comprising a total of more than a hundred agency staff have been deployed as part of the continued presence at all five nuclear sites in Ukraine. In the past year, ten rotations of IEA safety experts have crossed the front lines of war to access the plant. And we continue our work there, as you can see through our almost daily updates of the situation at the plant, which remains very, very fragile. Nuclear security, dear friends, is an important domain where the IEA has responded to member states' wishes for more support and increasingly sophisticated training. And I'm delighted to announce that the construction of the IEA nuclear security training and demonstration center at the laboratory in Cybersurf is complete. It's the first international center of excellence on nuclear security that is completed and will allow member states to benefit from training, capacity building and collaboration like never before. Madam President, since I assumed this office in 2019, I have been committed to strengthening the legal framework as well on which the continued verification of the peaceful use of nuclear material relies. I am pleased, therefore, to report that over the course of my first term, the number of states with safeguard agreements in force increased from 100, sorry, and 84 to 190 states today. And those with additional protocols increased from 136 to 141. Rescending the small quantities protocol continues to be very important. As you know, this is a measure that allows countries that have very small amounts of nuclear material to not have a full inspection ability. I think it is important that we are all up to date in this regard. And we will continue with this effort. Madam President, in relation to the IEA verification activities in the Islamic Republic of Iran, during my tenure, I have continued to report to the body governors and both Iran's NPT safeguards agreement and verification and monitoring undertaken in the light of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231. With regard to the NPT safeguards agreements, I must reiterate that significant safeguards issues remain outstanding after a number of years. I also cannot but recognize that implementation, the activities set out in the most recent joint statement between myself and Iran in March this year, has not made the progress I was hoping for. On this and on matters related to the de facto suspended implementation of the JCPOA, the IEA and I personally remain actively engaged and ready to work with Iran. Only full cooperation by Iran and tangible results will take us to the credible assurances that Iran's nuclear program is exclusively peaceful. The IEA continues to monitor the DPRK nuclear program. We have observed activities at several sites consistent with the DPRK's continuation of its illegal nuclear program, which is in clear violation of relevant UN Security Council resolutions. We will continue updating and hoping to engage again with the DPRK. Madam President, the nuclear field can only be as good as the people within it. The invisible barriers to women's participation are real and they are hurting as all, especially at a time when the sector faces shortages of skilled professionals, from welders to scientists. Our Marie Sklodowska Curie Fellowship Program continues to grow. We have covered more than 500 women on a program again that three years ago did not exist. We must do more. We will do more. As a natural follow-up to the Marie Sklodowska Curie Program, I launched the Lisa Meitner Initiative early this year. This new endeavor named after the important Austrian-Swedish physicist who discovered fission and whose name now also proudly designates our library, by the way, aims to level the playing field by giving women already in the nuclear field opportunities that will support their advancement. Maximizing the IEA talent pool and creating the conditions for gender equality are important priorities. At the start of my tenure as DG, below 30%. Now 43% and counting. The 2024-2025 agencies program and budget strikes a balance that considers the financial constraints faced by member states and the demands on the agencies' services. We're still facing delays in payments by some member states and I urge us all to pay in full and on time. Otherwise, all of these things are simply impossible. Each year, dear friends, this gathering gives me a chance to meet with you, to listen to you and to offer you ways to support our mandate and the mission of Atoms for Peace and Disarmament. I would like to thank you for your collaboration and express my gratitude, as always, to our model host country, the Republic of Austria, for doing everything possible to enable our work. And I would also like to extend my deepest gratitude to the Principality of Monaco for its steadfast support over the past 25 years of the agency and our unique marine environment laboratories. Finally, I would like to commend the agency staff for their unwavering commitment to supporting our member states. Dear friends, 70 years ago, after the famous speech I mentioned in the beginning that helped found the IEA, the dream of Atoms for Peace now Atoms for Peace and Development lives on. Make it a reality is up to all of us. Thank you very much. Yes, I would like to thank the Director General for his statement. He has not only dealt with the specific agenda items for this session, but also provided with a very interesting overview of the main issues and challenges ahead for the agency. I am sure that his views will receive careful consideration by member states. So let us now turn to agenda item 6, approval of the appointment of the Director General. Pursuant to Article 7A of the statute, the Board of Governors in March this year decided to appoint Mr. Raphael Mariano Rossi to serve as Director General of the agency for a term of four years from 3rd December 2023 to 2nd December 2027 and request the General Conference to approve the appointment by adopting the draft resolution contained in document GC67-8. I suppose you have all those resolutions with you. May I take it that the General Conference wish to adopt draft resolution contained in document of GC67-8 and approve the appointment of Mr. Rossi to the post of Director General by acclimation, so he's decided. Mr. Rossi, it is a great pleasure to me to inform you that the conference has approved your appointment as Director General for another four years. I am delighted to be the first to congratulate you on behalf of the General Conference and to wish you a very successful tenure. May I now ask you to take the oath of office? Thank you, Madam President. I solemnly swear to exercise in all loyalty, discretion and conscience the functions entrusted to me as Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency and to discharge these functions and to regulate my conduct with the interest of the agency only in view and not to seek or accept instructions in regard to the performance of my duties from any government or other authority external to the agency. Madam President, thank you very much and dear colleagues and friends. You just heard from me my substantive statement for today. So I will not repeat the things that I said there which in a certain sense resume what we have been trying to do. One thing I want to say today in front of you. Today my sense of duty, my sense of responsibility, moral, ethical and professional is even stronger than four years ago to lead this agency, an agency that does not wait to be called to help when help is needed. An agency that is inclusive, an agency that is there acting instead of reacting and do it with the same emotion, enthusiasm and passion that I have been putting to this work over the past four years. Thank you for your trust and confidence. Every day I will strive to honor it. Thank you very much. I thank the Director-General of his statement, distinguished delegates. In view of the fact that this morning's meeting is already well advanced and I would like the conference to get well underway with the general debate before we break for lunch. I would appeal to delegates in the interest of saving time to reserve their congratulatory statements to the Director-General until they make their general debate statements. However, I understand that some regional groups has request to make brief congratulatory statements to the Director-General. Accordingly, I give the floor to distinguished delegates from Pakistan on behalf of G77 and China. You have the floor. Madam President, good morning. The group of 77 in China would like, in the first place, to especially congratulate you, Madam President, for assuming the presidency of the General Conference for the year and express our support to your mandate. Our congratulations go also to the Vice-President, to the members of the General Committee, to the Chair of the Committee of the Whole, Mr. Vilmos, and the Vice-Chairs. Please count on our full support. We also thank the Secretary for the preparations of the General Conference. The group of 77 in China takes this opportunity to congratulate Mr. Rafael Mariano Grosy, a national member state of the group, on his approval by the General Conference for a second term. The group recommends Mr. Grosy for his valuable work as the head of the Agency. In particular, in the promotion of the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, the group looks forward to the enhancement of the Agency's activities in this field, including in the achievement of the sustainable development goals. The 77 in China acknowledges the impartial, effective, and professional manner with which Mr. Grosy has discharged his sponsor.