African delegation to Southern African Development Community (SADC) Ministerial
meeting
20 March 2007
Pretoria: South African Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad will on
Wednesday, 21 March 2007 depart for Maseru, Lesotho where he will join Minister
Trevor Manuel, Minister of Finance, as part of a senior South African
government delegation to the SADC Council of Ministers meeting scheduled from
Thursday to Friday, 22 to 23 March 2007.
Deputy Minister Pahad will participate in this meeting within the context of
South Africa's commitment to consolidate the African developmental agenda by
promoting the integration and development of SADC.
Although the March session of the Council of Ministers is customarily of a
predominantly administrative and financial nature, Foreign Ministers are
expected to deliberate on the review of operations of the Integrated Committee
of Ministers (ICM) as well as progress made in the regional economic
integration process following a report from the Ministerial Task Force on this
issue.
In addition, Ministers will consider, among others:
* progress in the establishment of the new SADC headquarters including the
design, financing and construction
* the financing of SADC projects including the HIV and AIDS project, the Hashim
Mbita project, and the food security training programme
* outcomes of the SADC-European Union Joint Ministerial meeting
* the proposed SADC Conference on Poverty and Development
* the proposed membership of the Seychelles.
Ministers will also receive reports from the:
* Executive Secretary
* SADC Troika
* Finance Committee.
The Ministerial meeting will be preceded by meetings of the Standing
Committee of Senior Officials and the Finance Committee. Deputy Minister Pahad
is scheduled to return to South Africa on Saturday, 24 March 2007.
For further information, please contact:
Ronnie Mamoepa
Cell: 082 990 4853
Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
20 March 2007
