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World Heritage	4 EXT COM
Distribution limited	WHC-99/CONF.207/2 Paris, 30 October 1999 Original: English/French

UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION

CONVENTION CONCERNING THE PROTECTION OF THE WORLD CULTURAL AND NATURAL HERITAGE

WORLD HERITAGE COMMITTEE

Fourth extraordinary session
Paris, UNESCO Headquarters, Room II
30 October 1999

Report of the Rapporteur

1. Opening of the Session

The Chairperson of the World Heritage Committee, Mr. Koichiro Matsuura, opened the fourth extraordinary session of the World Heritage Committee. He welcomed the seven new Committee Members, namely Belgium, China, Colombia, Egypt, Italy, Portugal and South Africa, which were elected by the 12th General Assembly of States Parties, held on 28 and 29 October 1999 at UNESCO Headquarters. The session was attended by all members of the Committee, namely Australia, Belgium, Benin, Canada, China, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Egypt, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Thailand, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Mr. Janos Jelen served as Rapporteur.

2. Election of the Bureau of the World Heritage Committee

The Chairperson recalled that the Bureau of the World Heritage Committee consists of:

1. Chairperson of the Committee
2. Rapporteur
3. five Vice-Chairpersons

The Committee elected Mr. Abdelaziz Touri (Morocco) as Chairperson of the World Heritage Committee and Ms. Anne Lammila (Finland) as Rapporteur. The Vice-Presidents elected were: Australia, Greece, Hungary, Mexico, and Zimbabwe.

The representative of Thailand, in supporting the nomination of Australia as Vice-President highlighted that Australia proposed to host the twenty-fourth session of the World Heritage Committee. Several Delegations underlined the importance of the representation of regional groups. The Delegate of China announced that his Government wishes to host a Committee session in the future.

Mr. Abdelaziz Touri (Morocco) thanked the Committee for its warm support in his election as Chairperson and welcomed the Committee to the forthcoming session in his country.

3. Closure of the session

The Chairperson recalled that the twenty-third session of the World Heritage Committee will be held in Marrakesh, Morocco from 29 November to 4 December 1999 and that the newly elected Bureau will meet on 26 and 27 November 1999.

The Delegate of Benin, on behalf of all Committee members thanked the Chairperson for his excellent work in chairing the Committee and the Bureau during its sessions in Kyoto and in Paris.

The Chairperson then declared the session closed.