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ted to strong collaboration with the AU, in these areas among others,to ensure that we move the African development agenda forward.More specifically, on trade, I had the opportunity to discuss thestalled Doha Round of trade talks with Mr. Pascal Lamy, Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO). We agreed on theneed for a speedy resumption of the talks as Africa stands to gainthe most from the achievement of a fair and equitable global tradingsystem.We are all in agreement that peace and security is a sine qua nonfor Africa’s development challenges to be successfully dealt with.In this regard, let us congratulate the African Union for its constantand credible engagement in this area and for the successes that havebeen achieved with regard to overcoming some of the intractableconflicts that bedeviled the continent.The task before us is multifaceted and we must use a variety oftools to address it comprehensively. Without a doubt, science andtechnology, the theme chosen for your Summit is a vital elementin the toolkit for accelerating Africa’s development. The world haswitnessed how advances in this innovative field have been perhapsthe most forceful and enduring drivers of economic growth and development.Much evidence shows that there is a strong correlationbetween a country’s scientific and technological status and its economicperformance and wealth. This is as true for Africa as it is andhas been for other parts of the world.It is therefore clear that for Africa to accelerate its development andachieve the MDGs, African countries have to scale-up their investmentsin science and technology. And, for this very reason, NEPADhas made science and technology a priority sector for the advancementof the continental agenda.In order to build Africa’s scientific and technological developmentframework we have to overcome a number of challenges. First, inmany African countries the link between the scientific communityand the political institutions are very weak and science and technologypolicies continue to be outdated. Second, despite the longtime that has elapsed since the adoption of the Lagos Plan of Action,which called for African countries to allocate at least 1 per cent of6 Part One