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BU 2/1/24.
ECAFE MEETING OF PARMANENT REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 1973
1.
You will want to know what happened at the last week's meeting of Permanent Representatives, the second held to discuss the streamlining of the conference structure of ECAFE in accordance with resolution 138 (XXIX). I enclose a copy of the final report. Incidentally many thanks for your
briefing letter of 24 November.
2. I think the report which is quite mercifully short speaks for itself. While we did not achieve quite as much as at one time seemed likely I think that the final results are not too bad. On the credit side we have agreed to recommend the setting up of 9 standing committees with a frequency of meeting which should ensure that there are no more than 7 meetings (including one ad hoc conference) in any year for a maximum of 50 calendar days. You will see from the chart attached to the report that there is still an "ad hod' conference square. It proved necessary to accept this if we wore to head off proposals for further committees. I have particularly in mind Sri Lanka's renewed pressure for a committee on shipping.and invisibles.
3. The great tussle came over the third layer in the chart. It seemed pretty clear from the discussions on the item itself that there was a large, if silent. majority in favour of a recommendation for the abolition of the sub committees and the establishment of ad hoc committees to carry on whatever really important work was being done by them. Coupled with this was an acceptance of the need to see that everything would be cut and dried as a result of the decisions of the 1974 commission. It was urged both in debate and
/in the
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