KwaZulu-Natal
20 April 2007
KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sibusiso Ndebele will host Singaporean President
Sellapan Ramanathan on Tuesday and Wednesday, 24 to 25 April 2007.
President Ramanathan is the first Singaporean Head of State to pay a State
Visit to South Africa, for bilateral political and economic discussions. The
President is in South Africa on a State visit, invited by President Thabo
Mbeki, and would have visited Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Pretoria before
coming to KwaZulu-Natal on Tuesday.
Premier Ndebele will host President Ramanthan within the context of South
Africa's commitment to consolidating and strengthening relations with
Singapore. The visit to KwaZulu-Natal will include bilateral discussions on
socio-economic issues and to pursue opportunities to develop relations in the
areas of skills development, science and technology, trade, commerce, industry
and tourism.
In addition, the visit, which includes a 65 person delegation of business
and political figures from Singapore, is aimed at achieving the objectives of
the New Africa-Asia Strategic Partnership adopted in April 2005. This
Partnership mandated all Asian and African countries to give expression to
their political relations by expanding trade and economic relations.
The focus of the visit is to facilitate and promote trade and economic
relations. New investment clusters and zones will be identified to facilitate
investment in infrastructure and enterprises including the tourism sector
development such as hotel and resort development.
Media programme for state visit to KwaZulu-Natal by Singaporean President
Sellapan Ramanathan Tuesday, 24 April to Wednesday, 25 April 2007
Tuesday, 24 April
10h30: Arrival of media for photo opportunity on arrival of President
Nathan in Durban
Venue: Durban International Airport, Apron
Arrival of Singapore President Nathan
14h30: Arrival of media ahead of official visit to the Phoenix Settlement
Venue: Gandhi Settlement
15h00: Arrival of President Nathan to be received by Premier Ndebele and
proceed to visit Mahatma Gandhi house, Sarvodya, and proceed to marquee for
formal programme
Concurrent to this a foreign business delegation will be hosted by the
Department of Economic Affairs in a parallel presentation of the province. This
is a combined programme with Tourism KwaZulu-Natal and Trade and Investment
KwaZulu-Natal (TIKZN).
Venue: Elangeni Hotel, Durban
Time: 12h45 to 14h00
Bilateral discussions between Premier Ndebele and President Nathan
17h30: Arrival of media ahead of bilateral conference for pictures prior to the
talks starting
Venue: Holiday Inn, Elangeni, Durban
Media to leave once photographs are captured
19h00: Formal dinner by invitation only
Media arrive for photo opportunity and event ahead of dignitaries
Venue: First floor, Elangeni Hotel, Durban
Wednesday, 25 April
10h00: Media arrive at Luthuli Museum in attendance for photo opportunity and
visit
11h30: Media depart
All journalists are kindly requested to contact Jeff Hassan on 082 884 1872 by
no later than 12h00 on Monday, 23 April 2007 to confirm which events you will
be covering.
Accreditation tags must be collected between 14h00 and 16h00 on Monday, 23
April 2007 from the Premier's Office, 9th floor, Truro House, Victoria
Embankment, Durban. Accreditation tags will only be issued on presentation of a
valid identity document.
Enquiries:
Logan Maistry
Cell: 083 644 4050
E-mail: maistryl@premier.kzntl.gov.za
Issued by: Office of the Premier, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
20 April 2007
