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President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika has delegated Honourable Francis L. Kasaila, M.P., Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, to represent him at the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is being held in Mbabane, Swaziland, from 22nd to 31st August, 2016.
This has been disclosed in a Press statement from the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) made available to FaceofMalawi.
This year’s summit will be held under the theme “Resource Mobilisation for Investment in Sustainable Energy Infrastructure for an Inclusive SADC Industrialization and for the Prosperity of the Region.”
According to the statement, the summit will see His Excellency the President, Dr. Lieutenant General Seretse Khama Ian Khama, of the Republic of Botswana and Outgoing SADC Chairperson, handing over the SADC Chairmanship to His Majesty, King Mswati III of the Kingdom of Swaziland, as the new SADC Chairperson.
“The theme of the Summit speaks to the central theme of the deliberations of the Summit, which is to accelerate the industrialization process of the SADC economies which will create jobs for the youths, improve the living standards of the people and create wealth and prosperity for the region.
“In this regard, the Summit will deliberate and agree on setting up a SADC Regional Development Fund (RDF), which will have an initial capitalization stock of US$120 million, which will be contributed upon by member states, and will be used as a special purpose vehicle for more capitalization from many other players, including the private sector, financial institutions and other donors. The SADC RDF could mobilize resources from these players to as much as US$400 billion for the foreseeable future for infrastructure development of the power sector, transport, ICT, value addition, water and sanitation and trade and facilitation critical for catalyzing industrialization process in the SADC region,” reads in part the statement.
Added the statement: “The Summit will also discuss the political and economic situation prevailing in the SADC region. In particular, the Summit will discuss the attendant political situations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the Kingdom of Lesotho and Madagascar and agree on measures to ensure political and security stability in these countries. The Summit will also discuss the prevailing humanitarian food security situation of the region as over 40 million people would require food aid assistance worth US$2.9billion between now and the next harvest.”
The Summit will also discuss progress in the social development programs currently under way in the SADC region in the areas of youth skills development, HIV/AIDS, Malaria and TB programmes, women empowerment and financial inclusion programmes, especially for the small and medium scale business owners. The Summit will aim at up scaling these various initiatives in order to improve the quality of life of people in the SADC region.
On the sidelines of the Summit, a SADC Industrialization Week and a Special Meeting of the Committee of Ministers of Trade (CMT) will be held in Mbabane, Swaziland, to enhance and foster industrial development and economic integration in the SADC region.
In summary, this Summit places greater emphasis on industrialization, economic diversification, infrastructure development and improved trade competiveness as a core of regional integration and economic cooperation
