Hotuba ya Balozi Seif Kufunga Mkutano wa Wakuu wa Majeshi ya Anga wa SADC - SAC. Zanzibar.

CLOSING SPEECH BY H.E AMB. SEIF ALI IDDI – THE 2^ND VICE PRESIDENT OF ZANZIBAR, DURING THE CLOSING CEREMONY OF 17^th MEETING OF THE STANDING AVIATION COMMITTEE

ZANZIBAR, TANZANIA, ON THE 08^th MAY, 2015

ZANZIBAR BEACH RESORT

----------------------------

Maj. Gen. JF Kapwani, the Chairperson of the Standing Aviation Committee and Tanzanian Air Force Commander,

Esteemed SADC Air Force Chiefs and Heads of Delegation,

Distinguished Delegates,

Ladies and Gentlemen.

Good afternoon,

I am indeed delighted to join you this afternoon as a Guest of Honour in the closing ceremony of the 17^th Standing Aviation Committee – 2015 which was held here in Zanzibar. I wish to express my gratitude to the organizers of this meeting for giving me this opportunity to join you this afternoon in the closing ceremony. As you are marking the end of the 17^th Standing Aviation Committee, allow me at the outset to commend and thank each one of you for your positive and brotherly participation which have made this meeting a success. It is my sincere belief that our guests from SADC Member States had an opportunity to spare some time out of their busy program to visit some scenic places and learn the culture of the Spice Islands and enjoy the hospitality of Zanzibar people.  We urge you to be good Ambassadors of Zanzibar when you get back to your respective countries for all those good things which you have seen here.  Leave the bad ones if there are any, to ourselves.

Distinguished Delegates,

Allow me at this point, to convey our sincere appreciation to the Air Chiefs from SADC Member States present and your respective delegations. I wish to convey our sincere gratitude to all Member States for availing the opportunity once again to Tanzania to host this august event which brings together SADC Air Chiefs. We indeed highly value and cherish the decision of appointing Tanzania to chair and host this important body with a deep sense of humility and appreciation. We deeply appreciate the continued commitments by all Member States andI would like to convey our special thanks to your respective defence headquarters and Governments for having been able to facilitate your attendance to this important meeting.

I wish also to thank all delegates for your positive contributions throughout the course of this important meeting. I am equally grateful for the usual spirit of brotherhood and comradeship that have characterized this meeting which covered many areas of mutual interest for our Air Forces in SADC. This spirit of cooperation is and will always be essential as we strive to consolidate our exemplary achievements in the political and defence cooperation in our Region.

Mr. Chairperson and Distinguished Delegates,

I am gratified to note that the Standing Aviation Committee since its inception in 1995 had successfully put in place the appropriate mechanisms for our Regional Air Forces to work and operate together despite the existing divergent military backgrounds and doctrines. The successful conduct of Blue Exercises is a clear testimony of how our Air Forces are ready to rapidly provide required air support in humanitarian assistance operations within and outside the region.

I am pleased and gratified to see that since yesterday you have been able to smoothly discuss all agenda items which involved a number of presentations and discussions on mutual areas of our concern. You reviewed a number of aviation issues including the ongoing project of Upper Airspace Control Centre and Preparations for the Forthcoming Blue Exercise to be held in Botswana.

I am glad that you considered the Upper Airspace Control Centre and clearly spelled out security implications and suggest the best way forward taking into considerations of the regional airspace security and sovereignty.  Furthermore, you considered the report of the planning conferences for the EXERCISE BLUE OKAVANGO to be held in the Republic of Botswana.  I am happy to see that the Republic of Botswana and all Member States are fully committed towards a successful exercise.

As a matter of fact, the outcome of this meeting will play a noble role to foster the relationship between our Air forces to the great heights and consolidate our resources in mitigating, preventing and addressing peace and security challenges. We look forward to see more Air Forces activities in the same SADC spirit of brotherhood and friendliness.

Mr. Chairperson and Distinguished Delegates,

It is my sincere hope that the successful conduct of this meeting and your presence here is a clear testimony of our commitment to pursue peace, security, prosperity and dignity of our peoples; and is also a well-defined evidence of how the regions are committed to build our Air support capacity to address the emerging security situations in the region in Conventional and Non-Conventional operations.  In this regard it’s our anticipation that our dream of building the regional capacity of our Armed Forces in all operational aspects will come true in the very near future.

Mr. Chairperson and Distinguished Delegates,

Let me use this opportunity to thank all Air Chiefs for the continued support and I would like to appeal to all SADC Member States to support and fully participate in Standing Aviation Committee activities. I wish also to commend the Chairperson and members of the Working Group which preceded this meeting for their good work.

Allow me at this juncture to commend your host Maj. Gen. JF Kapwani – Tanzania Air Force Commander and his entire team which worked so hard to make this meeting a reality and a success. I wish to acknowledge the great role played by all delegates for their fruitful participation in this event. Ladies and Gentlemen, kindly let’s give them a round of applause to everyone for a job well done.

Distinguished participants,

Before I end my remarks once again, I would like to thank you all for coming to Zanzibar, and I wish you a pleasant and safe trip back to your respective countries.

With those few remarks, it is now my profound pleasure and honor to declare the 17^th Meeting of Standing Aviation Committee is officially closed.

I thank you for your attention.

Ahsante sana.