Pretoria - South Africa is set to host the 5th IBSA Summit Heads of State and Government Summit next week.
The engagement process will take place on three levels:
* at a Heads of State and Government level, where global political and multilateral issues will be discussed;
* at a trilateral government-to-government level, where sectoral cooperation will be discussed,
* and people-to-people cooperation.
Cabinet spokesperson Jimmy Manyi said approximately 17 civil society working groups would hold meetings in preparation for the 18 October summit.
"These people-to-people working groups will make 5 - 8 presentations to the Heads of State highlighting key recommendations on the areas of co-operation, including social inclusion and equality, the promotion of food security, health, social assistance, employment, education, human rights and environmental sustainability."
Also, ahead of the 18 October meeting, the IBSA Editors' Forum will be held to debate and agree on key recommendations that will be presented to the Heads of State.
"The Editors Forum is part of the people-to-people relations established by IBSA. The South African National Editors' Forum (SANEF) and the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) will participate in these deliberations," said Manyi.
He said the realisation of a trilateral alliance between India, Brazil and South Africa stems from three commonalities between the countries, namely: all three are vibrant democracies; they share common views on various global issues, and they are substantial emerging economies within their sub-regions.
