President Mubarak will arrive today in France where he will take part in the 24th France-Africa summit which be held in the French city of Cannes under the title of "Africa and World Balance" on February 15-16.

The summit will be preceded by a preparatory meeting today attended by Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit for drafting the agenda of the summit and the final communiqué which will be adopted at the conclusion of the summit under the title of "Cannes Declaration".

Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit, who arrived in Cannes yesterday, said President Mubarak's participation in the summit reflects the significance of the Egyptian role and Egypt's keenness to develop its historic and effective role in this strategic dialogue forum between Africa and France.

The Foreign Minister said during the summit, a decision would be taken on Egypt's offer to host the next summit in 2009.

Minister Abul-Gheit said the Foreign Ministers of the participating states will today discuss a general framework for tackling African issues, and how to maximize benefiting from the raw materials in developing Africa.

Minister Abul-Gheit said the summit is an important forum for discussing the challenges facing Africa in the framework of globalization, preventive diplomacy and peace-keeping.

Egypt's ambassador to France Nasser Kamel said French President Chirac, Malian President Amado Toure, and President Mubarak will address the inaugural session of the summit.


The summit will also be addressed by President of Ghana John Kofour, in his capacity as chairman of the Africa Union and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in her capacity as chairperson of the European Union.

Following the end of the summit proceedings, the French President and some African leaders will hold a press conference in which they will review the results of the summit.


Ambassador Kamel said Egypt's participation in the summit comes in the framework of the Egyptian policy which aims at deepening Egypt's relations with African states.

He said this is the second summit which is concerned with Africa's relations with big powers attended by President Mubarak.

The first one was held under China-Africa title in Beijing three months ago.