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36.

ADDRESS
BY MR. V. PETROVSKY
DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS OFFICE AT GENEVA
AT THE OPENING CEREMONY OF TELECOM 95

Palexpo, 3 October 1995

Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I t is indeed an honour and a pleasure for me to welcome the
distinguished participants of the 7th World Telecommunications
Exhibition and Forum. The Secretary-General of the United
Nations, Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, has asked me to convey his best wishes for
the success of this very important event - the largest and the most authoritative
telecommunications exhibition in the world.

It is significant that TELECOM95 is held in the year of the commemora-
tion of the 50th Anniversary of the United Nations and the 130th Anniversary
of the International Telecommunication Union, calling for reflection on the
importance of international cooperation and on the need to strengthen our
efforts in this common endeavour to improve the lives of the citizens of our
planet.

In a sense, this event epitomizes the transformation that the world is
undergoing. Change, as the great German writer Goethe pointed out, is a
permanent feature of life. But change, as we are living it today, distinguishes
itself from what we have experienced in the past by its comprehensive nature

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