27 May 2007
Pretoria â British Prime Minister Tony Blair is expected to pay an official
visit to South Africa from 31 May to 1 June 2007, to hold discussion with
President Thabo Mbeki at the Union Buildings in Pretoria. This will be Prime
Minister Blair's last visit before stepping down as Prime Minister of Great
Britain.
The visit is significant since it takes place on the eve of the Group of
Eight (G8) Summit scheduled for Germany to which President Mbeki has been
invited as part of the African group. In addition it is anticipated that Prime
Minister Blair will deliver a major policy speech focusing on Africa.
Prime Minister Blair has consistently emphasised the importance of Africa's
development by designating the year 2005 as the Year of Africa. As a
consequence, Africa's development was primary item on the agenda of the G8
Summit held in Gleneagles and many of the recommendations of the commission for
Africa were taken up at the Gleneagles Summit building on the G8 Africa Action
Plan launched at Kananaskis in Canada in 2002.
Much of this was incorporated into an agreed, detailed set of commitments by
the G8 to address the areas of poverty, covering aspects such as peace and
security, good governance, human development and growth.
The British government views South Africa as a major strategic partner in
Africa and South Africa expects that this relationship will be consolidated by
Prime Minister Blair's successor. Accordingly Prime Minister Blair's visit will
afford us an opportunity to review our bilateral political, economic and trade
relations and how they can be deepened.
Contact:
Ronnie Mamoepa
Cell: 082 990 4853
Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
27 May 2007
