XXIII.1 The Director of the Centre, on behalf of the Director-General of UNESCO, expressed his gratitude to the Mexican authorities for having provided the facilities for this session and to the Chairperson, the Rapporteur and all members of the Committee for their constructive participation in the debates. He assured the Committee that the Secretariat will do its utmost to implement the decisions of the Committee in a timely and appropriate manner.
XXIII.2 The Delegate of Australia, speaking on behalf of all participants, thanked the Government of Mexico for its generous hospitality and for the excellent facilities provided. She expressed the Committee's appreciation for the Mexican culture and cultural traditions and commended the Government on the high standards of management and conservation of the cultural and natural heritage sites. She congratulated the Chairperson for her strategic skills, her commitment and her considerable efforts to conclude in a satisfactory way many difficult and sensitive matters. She also thanked the National Commission for UNESCO and Mr Salvador Diaz-Berrio for their efficient collaboration in organizing this Committee's session.
XXIII.3 She furthermore thanked the Director-General of UNESCO for his presence at the opening ceremony and for his inspiring speech and expressed the Committee's appreciation for the work and dedication of the Director of the Centre, the Director of the Division of Cultural Heritage of UNESCO and all staff of the World Heritage Centre.
XXIII.4 The Chairperson of the World Heritage Committee, Ms Maria-Teresa Franco, thanked the Committee for the confidence placed in her and committed herself to furthering the work of the World Heritage Convention. She thanked the Rapporteur for the extensive report, the UNESCO Secretariat for its extremely hard work, as well as the Mexican authorities and staff for contributing to the excellent preparation and development of the session. After having thanked the interpreters, both from UNESCO and those provided by the host country, for having facilitated simultaneous interpretation in three languages, she then declared the session closed. The closing speech of the Chairperson is included as Annex II.7.