Monday, September 11 2006 12:51 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Durban: President Thabo Mbeki will lead the South African delegation to the inaugural Heads of State summit for the India, Brazil, South Africa (IBSA) partnership, to be held in Brazil on Wednesday.

The event will bring together Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Mbeki and Brazilian President Lula da Silva.

A spokesperson for the South African Department of Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister, Aziz Pahad said a meeting of the three countries' Foreign Ministers was expected to precede the summit on Tuesday.

He said since its inception in 2003, IBSA had been instrumental in promoting closer co-ordination on global issues among the three developing countries, which regarded as democratic and non-racial with large economies.

"The summit follows the Ministerial Trilateral Joint Commission meetings that took place in New Delhi in 2004, Cape Town last year and Rio de Janeiro this year", he said.

"IBSA seeks to deepen South-South dialogue and co-operation while promoting trade and investment opportunities and the development of new markets.

"Other key aims of the summit include concluding trilateral agreements or Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) on transport, agriculture, energy, trade facilitation and information and communication technology (ICT)," he said.

Pahad said the trilateral agreements that would feature prominently at the IBSA Summit were in the fields of energy, transport and climate change.