§ Mr. MacleanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what official visits he, his ministers or officials have paid to Zimbabwe since May 1997; whom they met; and what was discussed. [73462]
§ Mr. Prescott[pursuant to his reply, 1 March 1999, c. 517–18]: There have been no official visits by DETR Ministers to Zimbabwe since May 1997.
There have been three visits by officials:
475WIn June 1997 four Departmental officials, together with delegations from other Government Departments, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee and the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, visited Harare for the 10th Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Conference at which a range of issues concerning trade and endangered species were discussed.In January 1998 a senior Departmental official represented DETR at an International Workshop on Strategic Approaches to Freshwater Management. The event was attended by some 80 countries, together with NGOs, industry and International agencies. This event was hosted by the Zimbabwe Government with EC support, and helped pave the way for the Commission for Sustainable Development's Sixth meeting at which a formal Decision on Strategic Approaches to Freshwater Management was adopted by CSD, and later endorsed by UNGASS.Also in January 1998 two Departmental officials visited Zimbabwe's Director of Civil Aviation, Mr. A. Marawa, to discuss the possibilities for extra services to Zimbabwe by British scheduled and charter airlines.