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President Mbeki to visit Merck HIV Vaccine Plant:

President Mbeki has accepted an invitation to visit the Merck Pharmaceutical plant in Philadelphia. The President will undertake the visit, which forms part of his planned itinerary in the US, on Wednesday morning.

The Merck Pharmaceutical Company's research into an HIV vaccine for the HIV strain most common in South Africa is believed to be at a fairly advanced stage and holds obvious implications for our country's fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Merck is also engaged in vaccine research into other diseases prevalent in Africa.

The President's short visit to the US is from Tuesday 26 to Wednesday 27 June. He is being accompanied by Ministers: Dr NC Dlamini Zuma and A Erwin, Ambassador to the US: S Sisulu, Ambassador B Modise, Director-General in The Presidency: Rev F Chikane, Legal Adviser: Adv M Gumbi, Acting Deputy Director General of Foreign Affairs: Mr N Ntshinga, and Communications Director: Mr B Khumalo.

The initial invitation to the President to visit the Merck plant was extended to him in Switzerland last January when the President met senior executives of Merck.

Government views Pharmaceutical companies as a critical partner in the fight against AIDS and the resolution of the Medicines Control Act court case has created an even better environment for co-operation on a wide range of issues of common interest.

The President will have a meeting with President Bush in the Oval Office on Tuesday morning, after which President Bush will host a working luncheon in his honour. President Mbeki will also address a dinner hosted by The Corporate Council on Africa. Guests at the dinner will include President J Chissano of Mozambique as well as the following leading industrialists:

* Mr Carl Ware (Executive Vice President Coca-Cola);
* Mr Neil Pickett (Director, International Eli Lilly and Company);
* Mr Michael Kennedy (Corporate Vice President and Director of Global Government Relations, Motorola);
* Mr Robert Bob McNamara (President, Business Manufacturing Unit, Fluor);
* Mr John F McGee (The McGee Foundation);
* Ms Ruth McGee (The McGee Foundation);
* Mr Frank Ferrari (Shell International);
* Ambassador Andrew Young (GoodWorks International);
* Mr John Bolden (Director, International, Caterpillar Inc.);
* Mr Tony Barclay (President, Development Alternatives Inc.);
* Mr Robert Bauerlein (Vice President, International, The Boeing Company);
* Mr Maurice Tempelsman (Chairman, The Corporate Council on Africa); and
* Mr Stephen Hayes (President, The Corporate Council on Africa).

The President will also address and participate in a Question and Answer Session of the National Press Club in Washington on Wednesday.

Enquiries:

Bheki Khumalo in USA: 091 917 570 8723
Tasneem Carrim 083 650 7119/012-319 1500

Issued by: The Presidency, 25 June 2001