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The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, announced today, Friday, 7 June, the visit to Rome by President Thabo Mbeki to attend the World Food Summit and the NEPAD Implementation Committee Meeting from 10 - 13 June 2002.

The World Food Summit could not have been scheduled for a better time given the current food crisis around the world in general and the SADC region in particular.

In this context, President Mbeki is expected to deliver a keynote address to delegates at the Food Summit on Monday 10 June. The Summit will focus on reviewing advances made since the 1996 World Food Summit; outlining measures that leaders now envisage to reach the 1996 targets as well as the mobilisation of the requisite political will and resources to move forward at an accelerated pace to achieve the 1996 targets.

Accordingly, South Africa is expected to:

* Report on the progress made in respect of the 1996 World Food Summit plan of action
* Projection of NEPAD as a framework to alleviate among others food security in Africa, and
* Together with others, provide an assessment and proposals for a way forward out of the current food situation in SADC.

The President's delegation will include Ministers Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Thoko Didiza and the President's Economic Advisor, Prof Wiseman Nkhuhlu.

On Tuesday, the President will interact with other heads of state from the five OAU regions at the NEPAD Implementation Committee Meeting chaired by President Olusegun Obasanjo, in preparation for the forthcoming G8 meeting scheduled for Canada on 27 June.

The SADC region will be represented in the Implementation Committee Meeting by SA, Botswana and Mozambique. They will be joined by Ethiopia, Mauritius, Rwanda, Nigeria, Senegal, Mali, Cameroon, Gabon, Republic of Congo, Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia. The Chair of the OAU, Zambia, will also attend including representatives.

Contact: Ronnie Mamoepa at 82-990-4853.

Issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs, 7 June 2002
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