Senior Mozambican Foreign Ministry official Goncalves Sengo told reporters in Maputo on Wednesday that the authorities are finalising preparations for the summit of the ACP (Africa, Caribbean and Pacific) group, that is to take place in Maputo between 21 and 24 July under the theme "together designing the future".
Addressing editors and senior reporters in his capacity as deputy chairperson of the Technical Council of the Interministerial Commission for National and International Major Events (CIGENE), Sengo said that so far, 41 countries, 17 of which are to be represented by heads of state or government, have confirmed their participation.
The summit will be preceded by a two day meeting of Foreign Ministers.
In parallel with the summit, the group of least developed ACP member countries will meet in a mini-summit to discuss free access to the sugar market.
Mozambique is currently striving to revive its sugar industry, that had been wrecked by the apartheid-backed Renamo rebels during the war of destabilisation.
Mozambique's Ambassador to the European Union, Manuela Lucas, who is coordinating the summit, said that the meeting is to launch the negotiations for regional economic partnerships within the ACP.
She added that the meeting is also to discuss peace and stability in the member states and at international level, taking into account that "without peace there can be no development".
Lucas said that the meeting will assess the millennium development goals, drafted by the United Nations in 2000, and the relations between the ACP and the European Union, and between the ACP member states.
Fonte: AIM
