President Thabo Mbeki to Lead South African Delegation to the G-8 Summit in Evian, France 1st June 2003

President Thabo Mbeki, together with the Presidents of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, Abdelaziz Bouteflika; Mohamed Hosni Mubarak of the Arab Republic of Egypt; Olusegun Obasanjo of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; and Abdoulaye Wade of the Republic of Senegal, will participate in the Enlarged Dialogue during the Group of Eight (G-8) Summit in Evian-les-Bains, France on Sunday, June 1st 2003.

The G-8 members participating in the Summit will be: Prime Minister Jean Chrétien of Canada; President Jacques Chirac of France; Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of Germany; President Silvio Berlusconi of Italy; Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan; President Vladimir Putin of Russia; Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom; and President George Bush of the United States of America.

President Chirac of France, as Chair of the Summit, has said that Africa will be one of the biggest priorities during discussions at the Summit, emphasizing that the group has a responsibility in the fight against poverty and must pay special attention to the problems particular to Africa.

In this regard, the Enlarged Dialogue, bringing the G8 Heads of State and Government together with the Heads of State of 12 selected developing countries, will have as its overall theme "International Co-operation to Promote Economic Growth and Development," and in this regard, economic development in Africa, sustainable development and the ongoing global fight against terrorism will be discussed.
Other issues on the agenda include:

· Macroeconomic policies;
· Development strategies;
· Trade issues;
· Promotion of private investment;
· Prevention of international and regional crises;
· Millennium Development Goals (e.g. water and sanitation);
· Implementation of health care programmes and infrastructure; and
· Consistency of standards imposed by international organisations.

The Enlarged Dialogue will be followed by a separate session with the African Heads of State of the NEPAD Secretariat on the progress of the NEPAD and the G8 Africa Action Plan.

South Africa's delegation to the Summit will include the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma; South Africa's Ambassadors to France, Ms T Skweyiya; the United Nations and other International Organisations, George Nene; and Switzerland, Ms January-Bardill, as well as Rev Frank Chikane, Director-General in the Office of the President.

For further information contact Ronnie Mamoepa on 082 990 4853 or Nomfanelo Kota on 082 377 7208.
Issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs
Private Bag X152
Pretoria
0001
28 May 2003

Background

1. France currently holds the rotating Presidency of the Group of Eight (G8) and will therefore host the annual Summit in Evian in 2003. President Chirac of France as host of the Summit has said that the overall theme of the Summit would be "more solidarity, more responsibility, more security and more democracy".

2. As a special feature of this year's Summit, a selected group of Heads of State and Government of developing countries has been invited to an Enlarged Dialogue on 1 June 2003. This builds on the initiative that began at the 1999 Cologne Summit, when G8 Foreign Ministers met their NAM counterparts for discussions on the fringes of the Summit. The initiative was subsequently taken to the level of Heads of State and Government at the summits in Okinawa, Genoa and Kananaskis. The Enlarged Dialogue will be followed by a separate session with the African Heads of State of the NEPAD Secretariat on the progress of the NEPAD and the G8 Africa Action Plan.

3. Following on the 2002 G8 Summit in Kananaskis, Canada, at which the group adopted the G8 Africa Action Plan (AAP), arrangements had been put in place to enable the G8 African Personal Representatives (APRs) to continue with their mandate in order to galvanize action within their respective bureaucracies and to maintain dialogue with NEPAD partners. This process complements the formal commitment by G8 leaders to review AAP progress at Evian. (full text of the AAP in background notes)

4. There is recognition that much remains to be done with regard to tangible action in support of NEPAD. To take this further, G8 partners plan to continue their dialogue with non-G8 major donors like Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.