Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.

My colleagues from Mozambique and Swaziland have stressed the strides our three countries have taken towards establishing the conditions for conservation and development in the Lubombo region.

The protocol we are signing today is another important milestone on the course we have charted for the Lubombo region. It establishes the framework within which we will co-operate to conserve a region that is already recognised by the international community as a place of outstanding universal value as well as consolidate conditions for the development of Lubombo's considerable tourism potential that underpins the promise of a revitalised regional economy.

What remains is to attract the investment and to develop the specific tourism businesses that will energise the Lubombo region's economy. The challenge now is to convert the considerable achievements sketched by my colleagues into development on the ground. And it is my pleasure today to report that in this crucial endeavour we have also made great progress.

Considerable research on the development potential of the areas targeted by the Lubombo SDI has been undertaken. Specific lead investment opportunities have been identified and packaged in five focused anchor project areas. The investment opportunities in these five areas range from a large-scale marine resort at Ponta do Ouro to boutique hotels, game lodges and safari camps elsewhere in the region. Specialist teams of legal, financial, environmental and tourism experts have prepared feasibility studies that indicate the viability of the proposed developments.

After all this preparation, we are now ready to bring a first round of investment opportunities to the market. By September, we will invite proposals for developments in Ponta do Ouro, in the Nsubane/Pongola and Goba transfrontier areas and in the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park.

To support this process in South Africa, we have passed into law the World Heritage Convention Act. It provides a legislative framework for the formal consolidation of the St Lucia Park as well as its management, protection and development in a manner consistent with South Africa's obligations under the World Heritage Convention and international best practice.

This will build on the record of accomplishment of conservation in KwaZulu-Natal and the core conservation expertise of the KZN Conservation Board. In partnership with my colleagues, regulations to establish a dedicated St Lucia Authority in terms of Section 9 of the Act will be published next week for comment.

This is designed to provide an institutional framework within which rapid private sector investment and increased commercial activity at St Lucia may be reconciled with ongoing conservation and protection of the environment. The new Authority's primary purpose will be to accelerate development, generate sustainable jobs and create conditions for the establishment of an internationally competitive tourism destination. We hope that this will provide a working model for other emerging conservation and tourism areas.

To ensure investment, my colleagues and I will remain hands-on in implementing a fast track process designed to bring the first round of projects to the market by September this year and reaching financial closure by February 2001. This first phase in the tendering of concessions is intended to consolidate investor confidence and create the critical mass for further sustained tourism growth in the area.

We know that the Lubombo region has great potential to attract tourists from around the globe. The SDI has provided us the opportunity to put in place a suitable process to attract the investment and expertise to develop that potential. It also provides us with an opportunity to capture the huge excitement that transfrontier parks are capturing from investors and tourists.

We have travelled a long way towards our dream of a prosperous Lubombo. I look forward to us completing this final step.

I thank you.