South African President Thabo Mbeki will meet his Brazilian counterpart in Rio de Janeiro on Monday for bilateral talks and to take part in a public hearing on an upcoming United Nations (UN) summit, before flying to Canada for a Group of Eight (G8) summit, his representative said on Saturday.
David Hlabane in a statement said Mbeki will meet Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso to discuss bilateral trade relations, before answering questions at a public hearing on the upcoming UN World Summit for Sustainable Development (WSSD).
”President Mbeki will be responding to questions on the summit together with President Cardoso, President Sukarnoputri of Indonesia and UN Sectretary General Kofi Annan,” Hlabane said.
On Tuesday, Mbeki is to receive a symbolic torch from Cardoso to signify the transfer of the summit from Brazil to South Africa. Brazil hosted the 1992 UN Earth Summit.
The WSSD meeting will be held in Johannesburg from August 26 to September 4, drawing tens of thousands of government leaders, business leaders and activists from around the world.
Hlabane said Mbeki will leave Brazil on Tuesday to attend the G8 summit in Kananaskis, Canada, which starts on Wednesday.
Ending on Thursday, the G8 summit of most industrialised nations will focus on, amongst other matters, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad), of which Mbeki is one of the leading proponents.
The plan, drawn up by several heads of state and endorsed by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), has won wide support from government and business leaders as an initiative proposed by Africans themselves.
It calls for massive investment in the continent as African countries pledge to follow global standards of democracy, and has been likened to the Marshall Plan, under which the United States pumped vast sums of money into Europe after World War II.
In Brazil, Mbeki will be accompanied by Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Valli Moosa while his delegation in Kananaskis will include Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and Wiseman Nkuhlu, his economic advisor, Hlabane said. – Sapa