On behalf of our President, Mr Maucher, I would like to welcome you to this 75th Anniversary event of the Court.

Just to refresh our memories, soon after the creation of the Chamber of Commerce in 1919, its Council decided to take up the question of international commercial dispute resolution.

The Council wanted to encourage the use of conciliation and arbitration in the international business community.

As the small group of business leaders who founded the ICC called themselves the 'Merchants of Peace', it was only natural that they should be involved in the settlement of disputes.

However, at the time, in most countries of the world, arbitration was not even recognized as a legally binding dispute resolution mechanism.

Therefore the 'Arbitration Committee' had to work very hard and with longterm vision. This goal was finally achieved following a great deal of faith and determination by generations of ICC leaders.

As the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, recalled last June on the New York Convention Day, it was an ICC initiative that prompted the UN to prepare an international treaty on arbitral awards as early as 1953. It is common knowledge that the New York Convention became the pillar of international arbitration.

We owe this to the great people who are behind the institution that we are celebrating today. We should be grateful to them.

We should also be grateful to those who have pursued, expanded, modernized and accelerated the work of the Court since then.

As years went by, the caseload of the Court not only increased but became more complicated due to the various cultures and successive reforms and revisions of the rules that had to be carried out.

In the year before the adoption of the New York Convention, the Court received 32 requests for arbitration. These requests have been increasing steadily since then and reached a whopping 452 last year. Parties in ICC arbitration come from almost every nation and business sector. These increasing figures show that the Court has fulfilled the aims of its founders.

I would like to express my hearty thanks to Chairman Dr Robert Briner, former Chairman Monsieur Alain Plantey, our Secretary General, Mr Horacio Grigera Naón and former Secretary General, Mr Eric Schwartz, with all of whom I have had the pleasure of working.

They really have carried out superb work in developing ICC arbitration.

We must not forget that a substantial proportion of the ICC's income is derived from the Court. The Court is not only a dispute settlement platform, but also an income-earning entity of the ICC.

I would also like to extend hearty thanks to the Court's Bureau and the Court members who make ICC arbitration unique in both quality and international recognition.

My thanks also go to the Court's staff at ICC Headquarters, who manage an enormous caseload on a day-to-day basis.

I cannot thank enough the Chairman and members of the Commission on international arbitration and its Bureau for their remarkable work.

As the Past President of the ICC, I am proud of this distinguished institution. It is as dynamic, flexible and effective as it was 75 years ago and it is facing up to all challenges.

Once again, I congratulate you all and wish you a productive day and pleasant stay in Geneva.

Now if you forgive me, I have to attend the Executive Board meeting, which is why our President could not be with us today.