It is marvellous that we are gathered here to celebrate the 60th anniversary of this wonderful organization, ESCAP, which is such a pre-eminent part of the United Nations system. I am also delighted to see that the rich history of ESCAP is being put together in a report that the Executive Secretary has appropriately commissioned (and which is already available in a pre-publication form), called ‘The First Parliament of Asia’, an apt name for an interactive process in Asia in which ESCAP has played such a leading role over the last six decades. I am very fortunate to be here and to be able to join in these anniversary celebrations.

As the subject of my talk I have chosen the expression ‘Asian Immensities’, which draws on a phrase made famous by W. B. Yeats, the poet: ‘Asiatic vague immensities’.