Luanda — The spokesperson for the 43rd Summit of SADC Heads of State and Government of the Community for the Development of Southern Africa (SADC), Jorge Cardoso assured Monday, in Luanda Province, Angola's readiness to successfully host the event, whose work began this Tuesday with the meeting of the Standing Committee of Senior Officials of this regional organization.
Ambassador Jorge Catarino Cardoso, who is Director of the Africa, Middle East and Regional Organizations Directorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was speaking during a press briefing session with the objective of presenting the main activities of the Summit calendar that will end on the day 17th of this month with the election of Angola's rotating presidency of SADC for 2023/2024 period.
The event which will be under the motto "Human and Financial Capital, the main tools for the sustainable industrialization of the SADC region", the meeting will also observe the preparation of documents related to the Council's cabinet work that will take place on Sunday and Monday to be discussed on the 17th.
According to the spokesperson, who underlined the importance of the theme of the event, during the presidency the country should seek to boost the regional integration of SADC being based on industrialization by making use of human capital, as well as financing sources.
He considered it essential that with trained and qualified people it was possible to reach higher levels of industrialization, but he said it was not possible without flexible and sustainable sources of financing.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
As for the challenge of Angola assuming the presidency at a time when some countries in the region are facing internal conflicts, namely Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ambassador Jorge Cardoso guaranteed that the situation is being duly monitored by SADC structures.
He said that, two years ago, a SADC force was deployed in the Mozambican region of Cabo Delgado to fight the prevailing insurgency there, while in the DRC the SADC intervention forces are integrated in the UN mission and, together with the government and the local armed forces have sought to guarantee security in that country, especially in the eastern region.
For the event whose majority of delegations are already in the country, among other activities, the agenda foresees for the 10th the meeting of the Finance Commission, the meeting of the Troika of the body (15th), the meeting of the Troika of the Cabinet Council (16th), as well as holding a public lecture for young people.
SADC's major goals is to make the region industrialized by 2063, as set out in the organization's Strategy and Roadmap, approved by the Heads of State and Government, in April 2015, for the period 2015-2063.
The regional organization's headquarters is in Gaborone, Botswana's capital.
Created in August 1992, SADC comprises Angola, South Africa Botswana, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
VC/AL/MRA/jmc
