Your Majesty, King Mswati III and Queen LAGIJA.

Your Excellency, President Benjamin Mkapa, Chairperson of SADC and Mrs Mkapa, Honourable Prime Minister Paul Raymond Berenger, Deputy Chairperson of SADC and Our Host and Mrs Berenger, Your Excellencies, Heads of State and Government and your spouses, Your Excellency, Mr Patrick Mazimaka, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Honourable Ministers, Honourable Leader of the Opposition Heads of continental and international organisations, Members of the Diplomatic Corps, Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen.

I am greatly honoured to once again have an opportunity to address the Summit of SADC Heads of States and Government. Your presence at this 24th Summit, Your Excellencies is not taken for granted. It is a clear indication of your continued commitment to the ideals and aspirations of SADC. The support that we continue to get from Member-states is immeasurable and the SADC Secretariat is most grateful for this.

Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, We are now in the fourth year of implementing the much-needed and far-reaching changes in our organisation.

These changes have ushered in a more focused and streamlined organisation, which is in a position to respond effectively to the challenges facing the region in this globalised world. The reforms are also meant to give further impetus and dynamism to our organisation.

We are optimistic that the new SADC structure if given the appropriate human and financial resources will serve as a vehicle to enable us to begin in earnest, the journey from poverty and marginalisation to prosperity, enlightenment and the center-stage in global economic and political affairs.

Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, As we embark on the implementation of the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) and the Strategic Indicative Plan for the Organ, we are looking on the bright side; towards a shared future for us all, where development opportunities and real benefits for all will become a reality.

In saying so, I am also quite mindful of the major development strides that SADC has made over the years and also of the challenges that it continues to face. The region has for a record 10 years continued to register positive economic growth rate which, in 2003 stood at 3.2% and three of our Member States, namely: Mozambique, Malawi and the United Republic of Tanzania registered the highest percentage growth rates in the region of between 7% and 5.5%.

Similarly, we have managed to stabilize our economies as reflected in the low inflation rates. Nine countries in the region had a one-digit inflation rate during 2003. Botswana, Malawi, Mauritius and the United Republic of Tanzania managed to keep inflation at rates around 5 %.

These positive growth rates were not in a windfall. They were a result of our Member States’ concerted efforts and deliberate macro-economic measures such as trade liberalisation, exchange control liberalisation, reduction of budget deficits, the privatisation of state enterprises and other public sector reforms.

Other indicators also show us in a good light. According to the Economic Forum 2004 Africa Competitiveness Report, five of our Member States, namely Botswana, South Africa, Mauritius, Namibia and the United Republic of Tanzania, were this year rated among the top 10 most competitive countries in Africa. This compares favourably with North Africa and West Africa, which have three and two countries in the top 10 respectively.

In the area of trade, we have embarked on the mid-term review of the Trade Protocol in order to have a clear audit of its implementation by Member States. Already we have observed areas where we need to take corrective measures so that we can achieve the win-win situation embodied in the SADC Treaty for all Member States. We realise that we cannot leave market forces to operate in an uneven playing field.

Therefore, we need to provide assistance to needy Member States to enable them to take full advantage of the wider market opportunities.

In the area of infrastructure, the aim is to create an integrated and efficient transport and communications systems. The strategy employed is to liberalize on a variable geometry approach the transport and communications industries to bring more service providers in particular the private sector through the public / private sector partnerships.

(continues)
We are also focusing on Development Corridors where the aim is to provide all missing transport and communication links to facilitate trade and development.

Notwithstanding these positive developments, we still face a number of challenges. The first issue we need to tackle head on is food insecurity brought on by among others, cyclical droughts, floods and cyclones. Despite an increase in total cereal production, estimated at 24.97 million tonnes, which is 10% higher than last year’s production, preliminary assessments from the National Vulnerability Assessments conducted in April/May 2004 indicate that close to 5.4 million people may need humanitarian assistance during the 2004/05 marketing year.

It is in recognition of the vulnerability of our region that the Extra-ordinary Summit in Dar es Salaam in May this year, adopted a Strategic Plan of Action to boost food production through the provision of key agricultural inputs and seeds, particularly to small holder farmers, improving access to land and markets and the dissemination of appropriate technologies.

Secondly, we have the spread of HIV and the impact of AIDS. This continues to be a major source of concern for the entire SADC region, as it is depleting our vital human capital and eroding the impressive socio-economic gains made by Member States.

At the regional level, we are equally determined and geared to effectively deal with this multi-dimensional and trans-boundary problem. To this end, we are scaling up regional responses to compliment the commendable national initiatives and interventions being made by our Member States.

As a follow up to the directives of the SADC Extra-ordinary Summit on HIV and AIDS held in Maseru, Lesotho, in July 2003, we have developed a five-year Business Plan in collaboration with key stakeholders in the region. The Plan focuses on both preventive interventions and measures to alleviate the suffering and improve the quality of life of people living with HIV and AIDS.

Thirdly the SADC region needs to address its power requirements urgently as there are indications that the power supply situation in the SADC Region will reach crisis levels by 2007 due to increased economic activity and population growth. We need therefore to take urgent action to address the power generation capacity constraints through fast tracking short-term priority power generation projects under the Southern African Power Pool and under NEPAD.

Finally, we continue to be confronted by capacity constraints in the implementation of our programmes both at the Secretariat and Member States levels. For example, although we have made commendable progress in the ratification of our protocols, the fundamental legally binding instruments for community building in SADC, we are yet to mainstream these into national laws and strategies so as to facilitate their implementation. In this regard, we need a structured audit on the implementation of our protocols with a view to identifying the nature of the constraints faced by Member States in this area. At the same time, we need to build capacity within the Secretariat to ensure the provision of the necessary backstopping for Member States in the implementation of protocols.

It is also imperative that Member States continue to empower SADC National Committees with adequate resources to enable them to effectively execute their mandates, including protocol implementation.

Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Allow me to conclude my remarks by expressing sincere gratitude to our Host, the Honourable Prime Minister Berenger, and through you to the Government and people of Mauritius for all the assistance they have provided the SADC Secretariat.

The commitment and dedication of the staff from your government Honourable Prime Minister, has contributed to ensuring that preparations for this Summit are flawless. Through this continued assistance, I have no doubt that this Summit will be a success.
I thank you for your kind attention.