More than 3000 delegates, including 100 ministers of science and education, attended the World Conference on Science in Budapest. The Conference, organised by the United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (UNESCO) and the International Council for Science (ICSU), took place between 26 June - 1 July. ICTP Director Miguel A. Virasoro spoke to the full delegation on the universal value of science and the need for developing nations to establish a strong foundation in basic science to meet the challenges of the next millennium. Later, the French delegation told participants that France plans to increase its support for the International Centre for Pure and Applied Mathematics (CIMPA), in Nice, and is prepared to back additional research and training centres similar to the ICTP in partnership with other countries. French delegate Jean Audouze told the audience that France hoped "to do the same for mathematics as the ICTP had done for physics." The French delegation was one of several to cite the ICTP as a model worth emulating in any efforts designed to strengthen science in the South.