Dear Friends,

Incredibly, almost four years have now gone by since our General Assembly in Santo Domingo in 2001. This quadrennium has been a period of intense but gratifying work aimed at fulfilling the wishes expressed by the membership in Santo Domingo and striving to strengthen IBSA's position and further develop blind sports in all corners of the world.

 We have achieved much during this term of office, and I would like to mention just a couple of the most outstanding accomplishments, such as the highly successful 2nd World Championships and Games Quebec 2003, which brought together more than 1 200 athletes, support staff and technicians to compete in six sports. Our World Championships go from strength to strength and I am sure, like me, you are looking forward to the third such championships in 2007. We have also taken great steps in the field of communication, with a new web site launched in 2003 and "IBSA News", among other initiatives, keeping you fully informed and up to date with our activities. Within IPC we are considered a highly valuable partner which has always played, and will continue to play, a vital role in the development of the Paralympic movement. This is witnessed by the key role given to IBSA and the other IOSDs in our council and by the stated wish of the IPC members that we should be afforded a leading role in development.

The time has now come tobegin making plans for the 7th IBSA General Assembly and 1st Blind Sports Conference, which as you know will be held in Beijing, China, from the 7th to the 12th of June 2005. China is hosting the next summer Olympic and Paralympic games in 2008 and is a fitting host for our assembly. I am sure the organisation will be excellent as China has a proven tradition of putting together successful events of this type. For the first time we will be organising a Blind Sports Conference in conjunction with our assembly to provide a forum for open debate and discussion on the past, present and future of the blind sports movement   

 I am particularly pleased the assembly will on this occasion be held in Asia as it provides us with an ideal opportunity to boost the already tangible growth of blind sports in the continent. During this mandate blind people in Asia have been offered more sporting opportunities than ever before, and this is a trend we must continue and extend to other parts of the world.

I would like to take this opportunity to encourage all of you to register for the assembly and conference as soon as you are able to. Your involvement in IBSA is vital to ensure the continued growth and consolidation of our federation and your participation in these important events will help to set the course for the coming years. We hope you take this opportunity to have your say in the crucial decisions that will be taken in Beijing on the technical, political and organisational direction of IBSA for the period 2005-2009.

I would like to thank the Chinese Paralympic Committee for hosting the events and I look forward to greeting all of you personally in China.

Kind regards and best wishes for the coming year,

Enrique Pérez
IBSA President