Ministers of Science and Technology in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are currently meeting in Pretoria to prepare for the regional summit taking place in Lesotho next month.
The meeting is to feed regional inputs to be tabled in the African Union science and technology summit which is scheduled for January 2007.
The one-day conference in Pretoria is being chaired by the Minister of Communications, Science and Technology in Lesotho, Motsoahae Thabane and is to discuss the implementation of the SADC council resolution taken in February 2006.
As part of the resolution, the SADC Secretariat was mandated to establish a science and technology office in a quest to maximise co-ordination and promotion of such issues in the region.
This was because science and technology have been identified as being instrumental in heightening economic growth and social development, as applications of scientific research border across various development areas such as agriculture, health and education.
The discussions will also build on the framework for science and technology which was adopted in Zimbabwe in April this year.
The framework outlines plans for the sector in the region and ways to mobilise financial and technical resources to implement projects of the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan.
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