On behalf of the Director-General of the ILO, I wish to thank you for your joint letter of 16 March 2003, inviting Mr. Somavia to be a keynote speaker at the academic conference entitled “Unlocking Human Potential – Linking the Informal and Formal Sectors”, in Helsinki, 17-18 September 2004.

Unfortunately, due to prior commitments, Mr. Somavia will not be able to accept your kind invitation. I am however very pleased to inform you that Ms. Anne Trebilcock, Deputy-Director, Policy Integration Department, has been proposed to represent the ILO on this occasion.

This event would provide a most suitable platform at which to present the results of the International Labour Conference discussion on decent work and the informal economy, as well as the links with globalization highlighted in the ILO’s recent Report of the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization.

I wish you every success with the EDGI-WIDER Conference and look forward to hearing about the outcome of the debate.

With kind regards,