16 heads of state to attend ACP summit in Khartoum
Dec 6, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — Organizers of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) summit, which is to be held in Khartoum on Thursday and Friday, announced on Monday that 16 heads of state had confirmed their participation in the upcoming event.
Omer Barido, the rapporteur of the higher committee for preparation for the ACP summit, said at a press conference that delegations of 46 states had arrived in Khartoum, adding that representatives of 14 regional and international organizations would attend the ACP meetings.
Ali Yousif, the Sudanese ambassador to Belgium and the European Union, said that all the 79 member states of the ACP group had declared their stand of supporting Sudan’s efforts for peace and developments, adding that these countries had been following up closely the progress achieved in these fields in Sudan.
“The convocation of the ACP summit in Khartoum is an important event for realizing stability and sustainable development,” he said.
The ACP Group is maintaining a strategic partnership with the European Union, Yousif said, adding that the cooperation between the group and the European Union in the political, economic and trade fields is one of the major topics that will be discussed at the summit.
He said the ACP summit will also review challenges that are facing the group such as the issues of foreign trade and peace.
The rapporteur of the ACP economic committee, Mekki Mirghani, said that the ACP summit is an economic forum in the first place and is aimed at combatting poverty and realizing sustainable development and integration in the globalization era.
(Xinhua)