In his welcome address on behalf of the Director-General, Mr.Makaminan Makagiansar, Assistant Director-General for Culture,once again drew attention to the importance of the role of the Committee. He referred to the World Conference on Cultural Policies (Mexico City, August 1982), to the IUCN World National Parks Congress (Bali, October 1982) and to the Extraordinary Session of the General Conference of Unesco (Paris, November 1982), at which special attention was called to the safeguarding of the cultural and natural heritage. After having assured the Committee of the interest taken in the implementation of the World Heritage Convention by the Director- General of Unesco, Mr. Amadou Mahtar-M'Bow, he expressed his pleasure at the adherence to the Convention of eight new States, five of which are African States. Finally, he considered the situation of the World Heritage Fund and the budget to be very healthy.