DAKAR: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is scheduled to take part in a series of dialogue sessions involving African heads of state, bankers, business executives and others at the Third International Conference on the Emergence of Africa (ICEA-III) which opens here Thursday.
The highlight of today’s proceedings at the Abdou Diouf International Conference Centre (CICAD), the venue of the Jan 17-19 conference, is the high-level panel discussion involving the Malaysian prime minister as well as the presidents of Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Kenya and Rwanda.
Dr Mahathir has the distinction of being the only head of government from outside Africa invited to take part in ICEA-III which carries the central theme of ‘Emergence, Private Sector and Inclusiveness’.
He is also scheduled to share his thoughts in the second segment on the topic of the promotion of the private sector as an engine of emergence while the third segment touches on inclusiveness as a guarantee of sustainability of the dynamics of emergence.
Senegalese President Macky Sall is slated to join Dr Mahathir in the third segment.
The fourth and final segment will see Dr Mahathir share his views on the subject of innovative public-private partnership on emergence.
The ICEA-III has set its sights on deepening the debate on the robustness of growth and inclusivity in Africa’s emergence plans through, in particular, better positioning of the private sector and partnerships with the state.
In a previous statement, the Malaysian Foreign Ministry said the conference provides the opportunity for Dr Mahathir to showcase the success of the public-private partnership in Malaysia.
The prime minister can also be expected to share Malaysia’s ideas and vision on the economic and trade partnership between the Southeast Asian country and the emerging African nations.
Dr Mahathir is accompanied on his two-day visit to Senegal by his wife, Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali.
They are expected to leave Senegal later Thursday. — Bernama
