SOUTHERN AFRICA: First SADC-US trade forum opens this week

The United States is to hold its first trade, investment and economic development forum with the 14-member Southern African Development Community (SADC) in Gaborone, Botswana on 14-15 April. A US Information Service (USIS) official told IRIN on Tuesday the US delegation would comprise about 90 representatives, among them the Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Stuart Eizenstat, who is to lead the American delegation. The other high-ranking US officials include Susan Rice, the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, USAid Assistant Administrator for African Affairs Vivian Lowery Derryck and A. Bradley Mims, the Acting Assistant Secretary of Transportation for Aviation and International Affairs. The SADC delegation is expected to be led by its Executive Secretary Dr Kaire Mbuende. "The forum's objective will be to build deeper cooperation and engagement between the SADC member states and the United States," the USIS official said. "The meeting will be divided into 10 working groups that will deal with economic and social/transnational issues." Among the topics to be discussed are US investment in the region, issues affecting trade, transportation, infrastructure and agriculture. HIV/AIDS, small arms trafficking, narcotics control and law enforcement, demining, disaster preparedness, the environment and biodiversity are also to form part of the working groups' discussions, while a round table discussion will deal with political matters. The idea of the forum, according to the USIS official, was first mooted in 1997 by Madeleine Albright, the US Secretary of State when she proposed an annual US-SADC meeting and the establishment of the office of a US representative to SADC. The US ambassador to Botswana has since been appointed to head the office.