Minister Dlamini Zuma to attend the Preparatory Meeting for TICAD

Pretoria – South African Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma will on Wednesday 19 March 2008 depart for Libreville, Gabon where she will attend the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) Ministerial Preparatory Conference scheduled for Thursday – Friday 20 – 21 March 2008. 

The Ministerial Conference will lay a foundation for the Africa-Japan Heads of State Summit which is scheduled for 28 – 30 May in Japan.

South Africa will participate in the TICAD IV Ministerial Preparatory Conference within the context of fostering African development through the strategic partnership with Japan.

Launched by Japan in 1993 as an initiative for Africa’s development, TICAD is aimed at promoting high-level policy dialogue between African leaders and development partners.  TICAD also seeks to mobilise support for African-owned development initiatives.

In this regard, key issues to be addressed in the Ministerial Conference include:

• Acceleration of Sustainable Economic Growth;
• Achieving the Millennium Development Goals;
• Consolidation of Peace and Democratisation; and
• Addressing environmental issues

TICAD and NEPAD

TICAD’s guiding principles of African ownership and international partnerships are entrenched in NEPAD values and principles.  Both TICAD and NEPAD place identical obligations on African countries and its development partners.  The Japanese Government has continuously reaffirmed its commitment to support NEPAD through the TICAD process.  Of the eight NEPAD Programme of Action areas, Japan has identified the following four as immediate priority areas:

1. Infrastructure
2. Agriculture
3. Market access (trade and investment promotion, as well as private sector development)
4. Human Resources Development

Minister Dlamini Zuma will depart from Gabon on Saturday 22 March for Chile where she will have a meeting with her Chilean counterpart, Minister Alejandro Foxley. 

Issued by Department of Foreign Affairs
Private Bag X152
Pretoria
0001

19 March 2008