Note to the Secretary-General

Your visit to Asia and the reform-budget crisis: timing and perceptions

You are scheduled to travel to Europe and Asia from 10 to 27 May 2006. As you well remember, your previous visit to Asia was canceled at very short notice in December when you decided to stay at Headquarters to facilitate very difficult discussions on the Organization's budget.

Ironically, the new dates agreed on for the visit will again coincide with a very delicate situation at Headquarters following the resolution adopted by the Fifth Committee last week on your management reform proposals. Your being away from Headquarters for nearly three weeks at this critical juncture might be wrongly understood and even criticized unless we can show that your trip is precisely timed to ensure the continued support of three very important Member States (Republic of Korea, Japan, and China) to the Organization both on budget and management reform issues.

The way the visit is framed, particularly to the media, will therefore be of great , importance and I would strongly support Ms. Okabe's recommendation that you grant a 1 pre-trip interview to a group of journalists from the three countries. '

Thank you.

Alicia Barcena 2 May 2006

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^%" SGOFICE o The Secretary-General's pre-trip interview

1. The line for a joint group interview would include the following:

1. China: Xinhua news agency, People's Daily (newspaper) ii. Japan: Kyodo news agency, Asahi Shimbun (newspaper) iii. ROK: Yonhap news agency, Chosun Ilbo (newspaper) iv. Vietnam: Vietnam news agency

2. These are print journalists only, as TV interviews were scheduled in country. The selection was based on the largest circulation national media from the requests we had.