A Note of appreciation from the Executive-Director, Mr. Pierre Gagné

The First Preparatory Committee Meeting (PrepCom) of the World Summit on the Information Society is now behind us, and I wish to take this opportunity to thank all delegates for their tireless efforts in ensuring a successful conclusion to our meeting. I am particularly pleased that significant progress has been achieved with regard to rules of procedures and accreditation matters related to Preparatory Committee Meetings.

While we have successfully passed the first significant milestone on the road to the Summit, we are now entering a crucial period in the preparatory process. We now need to work even more diligently to ensure that when we all meet again in Geneva in February 2003, we will have produced a draft outline of a shared vision of the Information Society and a concrete action plan to ensure its benefits are extended to all. For this reason, the upcoming regional preparatory meetings will be especially critical to achieving this important goal.

I would like to echo the words of the President of the PrepCom, Mr Adama Samassekou of Mali, who stressed the need for cooperation and collaboration between all stakeholders. When asked by a member of the media if he was proud to be representing Africa, he replied by saying he was, but that he was "equally proud to be representing all of the regions of the world as well as all of those who have a stake in the Information Society."

I'm sure that if we take this spirit of 'e-inclusion' to heart and we heed the guiding principles of the Summit, which call for transparency, information sharing and openness in our discussions, the journey we've embarked on will reach a fruitful end.