 Madame la Président, Excellencies, Distinguished Members of the Executive Committee, Chiefs of Police, Heads of Delegations, Heads of National Central Bureaus, Dear Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen, Good Morning, Buenos Dias, Bonjour, Assalamu Alaikum, In 2004, a notorious sexual child offender published photos on the internet. His face was swirled and not identifiable. Police all around the world took every effort to track down this criminal. An officer of my agency, using every three minutes during his night shifts, restored the facial image of this criminal. This triggered an Interpol operation you all know very well as Operation Wyco, finally leading to the arrest of the suspect by our Thai colleagues. Ladies and Gentlemen, Colleagues, this was the beginning of my passion for Interpol. One year later, on the 22nd of September 2005, I stood before the General Assembly for the first time. At that time, in Berlin, I asked the Supreme Body of our organization to express their confidence in me by giving me the honour of serving Interpol as a delegate for Europe in the Executive Committee. Today, I stand before you once again, here in Monaco, in this beautiful environment provided so warmly and efficiently by our dedicated Monagas hosts. And again, I ask you to place your trust in me and confirm with your vote my nomination by the Executive Committee. Almost ten years have passed since my election to the EC. Breathtaking changes have taken place within these ten years. The global age has given people undrammed of possibilities and opportunities. On the other hand, as we are all only too aware, at the beginning of this new century, new global threats have emerged. Geopolitical conflicts, health risks, environmental threats as well as terrorism, organised crime and a particular cyber crime, challenges which cannot be overcome by national states alone. More than ever before, strong international organisations are needed, organisations like Interpol. Due to the motivation and commitment displayed by generations of staff at the General Secretariat and in the member countries, Interpol today is the key player in the fight against transnational crime. More than ever before, Interpol is called upon to act. Over the last ten years, I have had the privilege to be part of Interpol's success story. In this decade, I visited almost 80 member countries all over the world. Missions with instructive encounters in which I learned a great deal about police work in all our Interpol regions. Missions during which you allowed me to share your experience and successes. Missions which gave me an insight into the challenges you face in your everyday police work at the front line. It has also been ten years of intensive insights into the General Secretariat, our regional bureaus and NCBs. And finally, ten years of building a global network of personal contacts. Contacts many of which have become close friendships. As a result of all these encounters with many of you, I took the decision to invest all my energy and leadership experience in the service of this outstanding organization. Consequently, I now stand here before you today to ask the General Assembly to place your trust in me and elect me to serve as the next Secretary General. Dear colleagues, my vision for the future of Interpol rests on four pillars. Core business, innovation, partnership and good governance. The first pillar is core business. Information is and always will be the most important factor to the success of our joint work. I will further extend Interpol's position as a global state of the art police information and communication hub. This relates first and foremost to our I-247 communication network and our databases. To obtain relevant information, police authorities throughout the world require huge investments in expertise and equipment. Interpol's provision of basic and advanced training and targeted equipment aid must therefore be increased. Capacity building remains a central strategic priority. The success of our work is demonstrated above all in joint cross-border operations. In this area, Interpol's support and coordination role will be expanded. Ladies and gentlemen, this core business is what can be described as Interpol's contestable hallmarks. In addition to this, our organization must remain flexible and adaptable in order to increase our relevance at a time of rapid change. This leads to my second point, innovation. We must share our national know-how, learn from each other, develop new ideas and concepts, work towards harmonization and facilitate cross-border cooperation. We must use our organization even more intensively as a global police think tank. In terms of policing issues in the 21st century, Interpol needs to promote creative dialogue. Interpol must remain innovative so that it can effectively support its member countries to confront both the challenges they currently face and those of the future. New impulses are expected from all the general secretariat's working areas. The new Interpol global complex of innovation will play a special role in the transition of Interpol into the digital age. This site opens up unique opportunities and must be developed to become a central incubator for research and development with regard to police methods and tools, especially in the fight against cyber crime. The important aspect of innovation leads to my third point, innovation through partnerships. Sustainable security can only be achieved in partnership within the law enforcement community. In partnership with other security actors and increasingly in partnership with the private sector. In your countries, there are many successful examples of this. As secretary general of Interpol, I will stand for Interpol's active coordination function in the joint fight of public and private actors against transnational crime. The cooperation with regional police bodies such as Afripol, Ameripol, Asianapol and Europol will be extended to form a powerful, complementary global architecture of security. I will also extend the network of special representatives and liaison officers as a fundamental feature of Interpol's cooperation strategy. The future of Interpol lies in multi-stakeholder partnerships. Distinguished delegates, all this can only be achieved if the resources available to the general secretariat and to the regional bureaus are strategically used to achieve the goals we all have set ourselves, goals which are strictly targeted at the needs of our member countries. The basis will be established by the strategies of our Interpol regions and by an active exchange with the NCEBs and other security actors. Regional specifics need to be taken into account. I will give special attention to the staff at the general secretariat and in the regional bureaus. Their specific knowledge, their experience, their diversity create the decisive value and warrant excellent demand-oriented services. I will therefore ensure that Interpol continues to be an attractive employer at an international level. I will also make sure that we invest in the personal development of our staff. Through a policy of flexible human resource management geared to your requirements, I will encourage you to continue to send qualified personnel to Interpol also as an essential element of your national career development programs. The other important resource, of course, is money. Securing Interpol's financial basis is essential for me in order to ensure that the member countries can be supported effectively. The three pillars of financing should continue to be as follows. First, membership fees to secure our core tasks and our independence. Second, extra funds from member countries and international organizations whom I would strongly encourage to use Interpol's expertise when investing in the development of police structures worldwide. And third, private donations to supplement the funding of defined tasks and projects. I will be guided by the recommendations obtained by the working group on the Interpol's Evolving Fundal Model you have approved. This includes a transparent due diligence process which protects the independence, the neutrality, the integrity and reputation of our organization. And, of course, not to forget, we also have to look for ways to reduce costs. Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished delegates, these are the cornerstones of my vision. This is how I intend to maintain Interpol's uniqueness and relevance. The key factor for our success is the large number of hardworking men and women at the front line, many of whom I have met in the course of my missions. They will have to say, yes, Interpol makes a difference. This is my understanding of turning vision into impact. My confirmed conviction is dialogue, solidarity and trust among ourselves and with our partners are the key to shaping Interpol's successful future. Together, we can make a difference. Together, we can turn back crime. Together, we can make the world a safer place. Thank you.