Respected executive secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification Luc Gnacadja and representatives from each country, we welcome your visit to South Gyeongsang Province.

Also we highly appreciate the U.N. General Assembly President Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, the U.N. Under-secretary-General Sha Zhukang and the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity Secretary-General Ahmed Djoghlaf for being here.

We give a special thanks to South Korea’s Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik for joining us during your busy schedule.

Korea Forest Service Minister Lee Don-koo, the presidential secretary for green growth and environment Kim Sang-hyup, Changwon Mayor Park Wan-su, we thank you all for joining us today.

A week has passed already since the forum had its opening ceremony on Oct. 10.

I am well-aware that there have been numerous discussions on how to cope with global desertification during the last week.

I will fully support the forum till the closing ceremony, for you to bear a satisfying result in discussing the issues.

Respected representatives, there have been countless dialogues between countries on desertification, famine, and environmental refugees. Sadly, it has not led to action.

Fast industrialization has inevitably led countries to compete on destroying lands. Now, more and more countries are regretting their past behavior.

What we really want now is countries to compete on planting trees and flowers.

I hope the change starts from here, at South Gyeongsang Province.

With officials and representatives, I am honored to have the forum in our province this year. I hope this becomes a corner stone for taking a step toward a green earth.

South Gyeongsang Province has a proud experience of successful afforestation.

We also run Green Official Development Assistance programs in China and Mongolia. South Gyeongsang Province will try its best to ease the global desertification problem.

Human beings are most beautiful when they share the pain of others.

An individual or a country’s effort may seem small but if we work on this together, I am certain that nothing is impossible.

I hope today’s general assembly will be another start toward a green earth.

In the process, South Gyeongsang Province and Korea will take a bigger role in action.

Thank you.

By Kim Du-kwan, South Gyeongsang governor

(Unofficial translation)