Your Majesties,
Your Excellencies Heads of State and Government,
Ministers and Deputy Ministers,
Your Excellencies High Commissioners and Ambassadors,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
May I take this opportunity to express my sincere appreciation and gratitude to the Heads of State and Government for availing themselves to attend this very important meeting on the future direction of SACU.
Indeed, their contributions were most valuable and constructive, without which it would not have been possible to arrive at the collective outcomes and decisions that will benefit our respective countries and region.
We believe that the decisions we reached today will serve the interests of SACU and also respond to the needs of the people we represent and serve. We are confident that the decisions will take the organisation forward and lay the required building blocks for the future of SACU that is developmental and which responds to the needs of all its residents.
In our deliberations we carefully considered the varied and complex challenges that SACU faces. This includes the consolidation of SACU through common policies and strategies, pursuit of deeper regional integration through common policy development and common institutions and strengthening SACU's institutional capacity. This will ensure that it plays a central role in meeting the objectives of deeper regional integration.
Notably, we are confident that the decisions arrived at during the past two days will advance the SACU vision we agreed to earlier this year in Namibia, namely to build "an economic community with equitable and sustainable development dedicated to the welfare of its people for a common future."
This vision also requires an organisation that is responsive to the ongoing developments in the global economy. This must be an organisation that is capable of advancing the promotion of cross border trade and development. It must be able to forge new partnerships with regional, continental and global trade entities that will contribute to our development priorities. It must design and implement programmes that will ensure sustainable development in all our member countries.
Excellencies,
We believe that these high level deliberations have been particularly valuable. They have helped us to forge a common understanding and renewed commitment by the collective leadership of SACU on the development of a strategic work programme.
Your Excellencies, let me again thank my brothers the heads of States and Government for their invaluable contributions. We have seen the value of this interaction so much that we have also agreed to make the Summits a regular event on our schedules. We want to make a collective approach on SACU issues the core principle of our future deliberations.
Excellencies, let me reiterate our sincere gratitude on the support you provided during the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup tournament.
You demonstrated practically that working together, we can do more as the African continent.
I thank you.
