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Achieving theMillenniumDevelopment Goalsin a challengingenvironmentECA Conference of Ministers of Finance,Planning and Economic DevelopmentTwenty-sixth meeting of the Committeeof ExpertsAddis Ababa, Ethiopia29 March 2007In keeping with the spirit of renewed and close partnership, ECAworked closely with the African Union Commission to organise thisTwenty-Sixth Meeting of the Committee of Experts of the Commission.The African Development Bank also continues to partner closelywith ECA and the AU Commission to support African countries intheir development journey. I would also like to recognise the presenceof the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) andto thank them for partnering with us on this and other activities.Finally, I would like to recognise the presence of representatives ofUN agencies who will be participating actively in our deliberations.In this regard, you will be pleased to know that the UN communitycontinues to work closely with the African Union Commission, especiallywithin the context of the Regional Consultative Mechanism.Last November, UN and AUC signed a Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) to guide and enhance support to the region over the nextseveral years. We are excited by this and expect that the MoU willresult in a substantial increase in the level and scope of our supportto Africa.Meetings of the Committee of Experts serve as a primary platformfor in-depth discussion of the pressing challenges to Africa’s developmentand consideration of the options before our countries. Yourcontribution to the development of our continent is evident in theIntegrating Africa9