Croatian Tourist Delegation at WTO Assembly Next Week

The sixteenth session of the World Tourism Organization’s General Assembly will be held from 28 November till 2 December 2005 in Dakar, Senegal. One of the many participants will be the Croatian delegation headed by the Croatian State Secretary for Tourism, Zdenko Mičić.

The WTO General Assembly meetings are being organized every two years, always preceded by Regional Commission meetings of the member countries as well as of the WTO Executive Council meeting. Croatia became a member of the WTO Executive Council on the fifteenth WTO General Assembly, organized at Beijing in 2003.  

This year, Croatia is running for the presidency of the Regional Commission for Europe (EEU). For the past fourteen years this position was presided by Switzerland. The other country competing for this seat is the Russian Federation.

Croatia’s success and growing attractiveness as a tourist destination, along with its very active engagement in the work of the WTO up until now, are strong recommendations for choosing Croatia to take up this position for the upcoming two-year period. The selection will be performed at the meeting of the Commission for Europe, and ultimately confirmed by the General Assembly.

This year's General Assembly will be significant for two reasons: appointment of the new Secretary – General and the proposal for the amendments to the Organization Statute.  The still present Secretary – General, Francesco Frangialli, announced his candidacy for a third consecutive mandate and for that he received great support of all Executive Council members on the last meeting at Nessebar (Bulgaria) in June, this year.  The proposed amendments should introduce changes regarding membership and reelection rules of the Secretary-General of the WTO.