15 presidents to attend Smart Partnership Dialogue

Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation minister Bernard Membe (R) greets members of the diplomatic corps shortly after briefing them on Smart Partnership meeting to be held in Dar es Salaam next month, the main item on the agenda being the use of science and technology in expediting social and economic development.(Photo: Selemani Mpochi)

 

 

At least ten Presidents from African countries and five former presidents from other parts in the world have confirmed their attendance at the international meeting on the Smart Partnership Dialogue schedule at the end of June this year.

However, Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation minister Bernard Membe said the number of presidents who are expected to attend the international meeting to be held at Mwalimu Nyerere International Conference Centre might increase because there were still ten days more for them to confirm attendance.

Briefing journalists after his meeting with diplomats in Dar es Salaam on the preparations of the dialogue, the Tanzania’s Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Bernard Membe, said Tanzania will host the dialogue in Dar es Salaam come June 28 to July 1 this year.

The theme of this year’s Smart Partnership International Dialogue 2013 is “Leveraging Technology for Africa’s Socio-economic Transformation: The Smart Partnership Way”.

He said that the meeting is expected to be attended by about 500 participants from various countries all over the world.

Membe has therefore called upon for the Tanzania businessmen/women, hotel owners, taxi drivers to use that rare opportunity to make quick money from the guests during their presence in the country.

Membe said that the global 2013 dialogue will provide a platform for technological stakeholders to discuss on how science and technology can be used in promoting social and economical development particularly in the developing countries.

He added that the dialogue will focus the attention to technology inclusiveness, policy frameworks, as well as approaches for using innovation to foster sustainable development in Africa and elsewhere as it is anticipated that a dialogue on technology for socio-economic transformation shall merit global attention and have a global participation.

Speaking on security during the four days of the meeting, the Minister said that the Police and other security units of the country were organizing on how to handle the situation particularly traffic jams in various roads in the city.

He called on the City council to ensure maintenance of roads and cleanness of the city.

For her part the project manager for the smart partnership dialogue Rosemary Jairo said that the preparations for the meeting were at last touches and at least 106 local experts from various sectors such as universities, trade and business, science and technology are expected to participate.

She said that experts will present different topics and participants shall have opportunity to react and contribute to those topics.

In June 2011, President Jakaya Kikwete agreed to host the dialogue during the last dialogue which took place in Putrajaya, Malaysia.

The Dialogues began as a platform for scientists to meet and discuss Scientific and Technological issues that were relevant all over the world. The changing geo political space, the shrinking of the global and increasing interconnectedness and interdependence made the idea of a sustainable open forum to discuss global topical issues a necessity.

The Smart Partnership Dialogues started early 1990s when the first Dialogue was held in Malaysia in 1995 under the leadership of the then Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Previously the dialogue took place in 2011 in Putrajaya, Malaysia, 2009 Munyonyo, Uganda and 2008 Lusaka, Zambia, to mention a few.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN