South Africa’s black economic empowerment (BEE) efforts are set to receive a boost in the form of a multimillion-dollar investment from the New York Common Retirement Fund.
According to the Department of Home Affairs, South African President Thabo Mbeki will be briefed later on Friday on the intention of the fund to increase its
current levels of investment in South Africa to support BEE. Details of the deal will be unveiled at a press conference to be held later on Friday in New York by the New York Comptroller, Alan Hevesi.
Mbeki is currently leading the South African government delegation to the 60th session of the UN General Assembly and the Millennium Review Summit currently under way in New York. He is accompanied by Zanele Mbeki and supported by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma and senior government
officials including Foreign Affairs Director-General Dr Ayanda Ntsaluba.
As part of global efforts to push back the frontiers of poverty and under-development, President Mbeki will represent South Africa later on Friday at the inaugural meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative on ”The Escape from Poverty: Forging a New Partnership between the Developed and Developing World”.
The department said that in this context, Mbeki will join Dr Javier Solana, the EU High Representative for the Commission on Foreign and Security Policy in a discussion on ”The Critical Moment in the fight against poverty: The fundamentals of a new deal”.
Friday will also see a series of bilateral discussions for President Mbeki, with amongst others, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Prime Minister Cellou Diallo of Guinea and Dr Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary General of UNCTAD. The meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister follows Thursday’s bilateral discussions with Palestinian Foreign Minister Nasser Al-Kidwa.
Meanwhile, Minister Dlamini Zuma will hold a series of bilateral discussions with her Nigerian, French and Belgian counterparts, attend the Commonwealth Ministerial Group on Guyana and the India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) working meeting. The IBSA Ministerial meeting follows on the IBSA heads of state and government trilateral forum held on Wednesday.
In addition, Dlamini Zuma will participate in the round table meeting on the
International Conference on the Great Lakes Region. – I-Net Bridge