UN General Assembly
1998

to make this more operational will play an important role. Here I would like to express our satisfaction with the performance of the UNDP office in Sofia. For Bulgaria, development and economic growth will be impossible without full participation in world economic and financial exchanges. In our opinion, the United Nations and its institutions could be more strongly involved in the solution of the specific problems of economic transition and reforms. Disarmament issues continue to have an important place in overall efforts to secure a better world for future generations. We agree with the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, that disarmament is at the centre of our mission of peace and development, and we welcome his decision to re- establish the Department for Disarmament Affairs. The Bulgarian Government attaches high priority to international efforts to strengthen the nuclear non-proliferation regime. We call for an early entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) as an important step in that direction, and support the decision of the Conference on Disarmament to establish an ad hoc committee to