2. The new Executive Secretary of UNECE, Mr. C. Friis Bach, welcomed the participants and confirmed the high importance of the World Forum WP.29 for UNECE. He underlined the worldwide relevance of the World Forum for safer and cleaner vehicles. He welcomed the ongoing work of WP.29 to amend the 1958 Agreement to make it more attractive for emerging economies. He underlined how much the work of the World Forum is affecting people and their daily life. He reminded the World Forum about the magnitude of the road safety problem, that one of the future UN sustainable development goals is to halve the number of traffic casualties and that WP.29 is a key player in improving the safety and environmental performance of new vehicles. He expressed his high appreciation for the work done by the Chair in guiding WP.29 with personal dedication for such a long time.

3. The Executive Secretary informed the World Forum that the selection process for the vacant P-5 post in the Vehicle Regulations and Transport Innovations Section was about to be concluded. Moreover, he confirmed that the selection process would fully follow UN rules and procedures in a fair, transparent and merit-based manner. He expressed his commitment to provide high quality services to the World Forum WP.29.

4. The representative of the EU confirmed his appreciation for the work performed by WP.29 staff and particularly appreciated the work of Mr. R. Hubert in taking over, on a temporary basis, the tasks of the Chief of the Vehicle Regulations and Transport Innovations Section and thus ensuring continuity. He underlined the crucial need for the World Forum to maintain the continuity in work quality of the secretariat services.

5. The above statement was generally supported by the representatives of Japan and the United States of America. The representative of Japan reminded the World Form that the success of his country to bring new Asian countries into the activities of WP.29 had also been based on the assurance of high quality secretariat services.

6. Mr. K. Wani, Director General for Engineering Affairs, Road Transport Bureau of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan, recalled that his country had actively been involved in the activities of WP.29 since about 1985 and was the first non-European Contracting Party to the 1958 Agreement. He also spoke about the current and future direction of Japan’s commitment in fostering harmonization of vehicle regulations. Accordingly, he indicated three principles followed by his administration: (i) contribute to the transformation of WP.29 towards a more attractive forum for emerging countries; (ii) actively participate in the discussion on new technologies such as highly automated vehicles; and (iii) support the activities related to International Whole Vehicle Type Approval (IWVTA). Finally, he informed the World Forum that, on 11 November 2014, the Japanese Government conferred upon Mr. Gauvin the ‘Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon’ for his achievements in expanding the WP.29 activities so that several countries including Japan could join the World Forum, as well as, for strengthening the Forum’s activities by accelerating international regulation development such as the International Whole Vehicle Type Approval (IWVTA).

7. Mr. I. Bin Ahmad, Director General of the Road Transport Department of Malaysia, stated that the activity of harmonizing vehicle regulations would become one of the key elements to ensure vehicle safety and to facilitate vehicle trade in the region of the Association of the South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). He concluded that his country had successfully transposed seventy-seven UN Regulations into its national law and that altogether 126 UN Regulations would be transposed by 2020.

8. Mr. S. Kwon, Director General for the Motor Vehicle Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of the Republic of Korea, reported on the activities of WP.29 in which his country was actively involved, namely Panoramic Sunroof Glazing (PSG) and Vehicle Indoor Air Quality (VIAQ). He explained the weakness of ceramic printed areas of toughened glass and solicited Contracting Parties to endorse the establishment of an informal working group on PSG. He indicated that his country would be ready to chair and sponsor the activities on PSG.