Mbeki set for Asian-African summit
Shaun Benton
18 April 2005
President Thabo Mbeki leads a senior South African delegation on a state visit to Indonesia this week, before attending the 2005 Asian-African summit in Jakarta.
The summit will mark the 50th anniversary of the 1955 Bandung Conference, a milestone in Africa-Asian solidarity against colonialism and apartheid, which laid the basis for the formation of the Non-Aligned Movement.
South Africa is keen to strengthen "south-south" relations, and the conference in Indonesia will be a strategic initiative for promoting the aspirations of the developing world, said Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad.
Indonesian President General Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will host the South Africans during the state visit, which ends on Wednesday.
Mbeki's delegation will then attend the Asian-African summit in Jakarta from 22 to 23 April, followed by the commemoration of the 1955 Bandung Summit in Bandung on 24 April.
Mbeki will also travel to nearby
Singapore this week, where he will meet his counterpart, President SR Nathan, as well as Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong.
Indonesia is one of South Africa's key trading partners, with trade between the two countries having expanded by over 300% since 1993.
The balance of trade currently favours South Africa, and firms such as Murray & Roberts, Anglo-American, Plessey and M-Web are fast taking advantage of the opportunities in the world's most populous Muslim country.
Source: BuaNews
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