Foreign Minister Jan Petersen will visit Kenya and South Africa from 25 to 28 March in connection with his dialogue with selected countries on international trade issues related to the WTO process and the need to get the international negotiations back on track after they broke down in Cancun last year.

His visit will also be used to discuss bilateral co-operation. In South Africa a new memorandum of understanding on co-operation for the next five-year period will be signed. Both Kenya and South Africa are involved in the efforts to resolve conflicts in Africa. The situation in Zimbabwe, the Ethiopia-Eritrea conflict and the peace process in Sudan are some of the issues that will feature centrally in Mr Petersen’s talks with his colleagues.

While in South Africa, Mr Petersen will attend one of the events to celebrate the country’s 10 ^th> anniversary as a democratic state. The Norwegian National Opera, in partnership with Cape Town Opera, will be presenting Beethoven’s Fidelio on Robben Island, the infamous prison island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for many years for his anti-apartheid activities.