Luanda – The Angolan capital is to host on Tuesday another Ministerial Political Dialogue Session between the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the European Union (EU), with the aim of addressing issues of peace, security and human and sustainable development.
According to a press release ANGOP has had access to, during a meeting the two institutions will exchange ideas on issues of mutual interest, including climate and environmental changes, trade negotiations and investments.
The note states that the dialogue session serves as a platform to reinforce relations between SADC and EU, as well as to promote cooperation in the domains of peace and security, trade and political exchanges, taking into account the sustainable economic growth and the economic reforms in the region.
It will also address global, continental and regional issues that affect not only peace and security in the region, but also development and cooperation.
The event will review the advances recorded in the field regarding the implementation of cooperation between SADC and the EU and the Africa-Europe Global Portal Investment and Programming Package.
In the event SADC will be represented by the secretariat and Member States of the Double Troika, namely Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe, while the EU will be represented by the European External Action Service (EEAS).
The SADC-EU Political Dialogue was launched during the SADC-EU Ministerial Conference held in Berlin, Germany in September 1994, when both parties reaffirmed their determination to strengthen their relations and establish a comprehensive dialogue
The previous session was held in virtual format on 16 June 2021, while the last edition of the Senior Officials Dialogue was held from 7 to 8 June 2022, in Brussels, Belgium.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is an organization comprising sixteen (16) Member States, established in 1980 as the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC) and later, in August 1992, transformed into the Southern African Development Community ( SADC).
SADC's mission is to promote sustainable and equitable economic growth and social and economic development, through efficient production systems, deeper cooperation and integration, good governance and lasting peace and security, so that the region emerges as an actor competitive and effective in the contexts of international relations and the world economy.
The European Union is a unique economic and political union made up of 27 European countries. The EU's objectives include safeguarding peace and ensuring economic and social progress, through the creation of a European internal market and the strengthening of social cohesion.
Over the years, the EU has seen the expansion of its powers, as a result of successive treaties. Although its vocation initially had an economic nature, with the creation of a huge single market, the European Union became an eminently political entity.
From the six (6) founding countries or Member States, in the 1950s, the bloc became a union made up of 27 countries and a population of around 450 million inhabitants, covering almost the entire length of the European continent.
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