Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
MEDIA STATEMENT ON VISIT OF DR GINWALA AND DELEGATION OF PARLIAMENTARIANS AND ACADEMICS TO SADC/EU MEETING IN VIENNA
The Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr Frene Ginwala, will lead a delegation of South African parliamentarians and several South African academics and representatives of NGOs to participate in a European Union/Southern African Development Community (SADC) Conference for Parliamentarians and NGOs from 12-14 October 1998 in Vienna, Austria.
The Conference entilted, "European-Southern African Cooperation in a globalParliamentarians and Non-Governmental Organisations", is being hosted by the Austrian Parliament in cooperation with the European Network for Information and Action on Southern Africa (ENIASA). Some 80 Parliamentarians and NGO representatives from SADC are expected to attend the conference with their European counterparts.
The Conference will be opened by the President of the Austrian Parliament, Dr Heinz Fischer, and Speaker Dr Ginwala will deliver the keynote address on the topic "Southern Africa - European cooperation in a globalising World".
Leading up to the Third European Union - Southern African Development Community (SADC) Ministerial Conference in Vienna in November 1998, the conference will provide a platform for parliamentarians and NGO representatives from Southern Africa and the European Union to discuss relations between the two regions within the context of a changing global political and economic environment.
Issues arising from the forthcoming World Trade Organisation (WTO) round, debt management initiatives, structural adjustment programmes as implemented by the international financial institutions and current talks on a Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) will be among some of the topics addressed during the conference. In addition, the conference will discuss the current trade negotiations between the EU and South Africa, as well as a Post-Lome dispensation which started during the current Austrian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
The Vienna Conference of Parliamentarians and NGOs will aim at reviving the spirit of North/South dialogue and at broadening the EU/SADC political dialogue.
Enquiries: Mrs Clara Kiessewetter S A Embassy Tel: 43-1-320 6493 Fax: 43-1-320 6493 51
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS ON BEHALF OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN EMBASSY IN VIENNA PRETORIA 11 OCTOBER 1998