The Ambassador of Thailand to the United Nations Office at Geneva, S.E.M. Chaiyong SATJIPANON, and the Secretary General of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), Willem Wijnstekers, signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 23 April 2004 in Geneva that prepares the way for the hosting of the 13th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES in Bangkok.
The 13th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES (CoP13) will be held at the Conference Centre "Queen Sirikit National Convention Center", from 2 to 14 October 2004. CITES CoP meetings are held about every three years and attract up to two thousand government delegates, experts, NGOs representatives and journalists.
Mr Wijnstekers expressed his gratitude to the Thai Government for agreeing to host this event, which, he declared, "is of major importance to wildlife conservation worldwide".
The Ambassador of Thailand to the United Nations Office at Geneva, S.E.M. Chaiyong SATJIPANON, and the Secretary General of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), Willem Wijnstekers, signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 23 April 2004 in Geneva that prepares the way for the hosting of the 13th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES in Bangkok.