My Esteemed Colleagues, One year has come and gone since the last Ordinary Summit held in Luanda, Angola, in August 2011, during which we were honoured to Chair our august body, the Southern African Development Community (SADC). During that period, we were humbled by the unequalled cooperation that we received from yourselves and other Member State representatives within other SADC policy structures with which we collaborated. You will recall, Your Excellencies, that at the very outset of our ascendancy to the SADC Chair, we identified infrastructure development as not only a priority, but as an area which we were going to champion. We took the reins at a time when the process of crafting the SADC Regional Infrastructure Development Master Plan (RIDMP) had just commenced, guided by the Executive Secretary. It was very clear that the advent of the RIDMP would usher an opportunity for Member States to strike consensus on priority projects, which would constitute the basis for not only our cooperation as Member States, but our cooperation as a region with International Cooperation and Development Partners. FOREWORD FROM THE SADC CHAIRPERSON The SADC Infrastructure Master Plan has now been completed for our review and adoption. Perusal of the documents no doubt suggests that a lot of work was undertaken by the Member States, assisted by the SADC Secretariat. I am made to understand that the process was undertaken by regional consultants, which is highly commendable. I wish to commend the Executive Secretary and his team for putting together this piece of work, enabling the region to achieve this historic milestone, especially given the articulation of our priorities on infrastructure development. I am most inspired by the Master Plan – Short-term Action Plan (STAP), which elaborates on the projects that will be implemented in the short term. These projects are at different levels of development, but all of them are scheduled to be completed during phase 1 of this plan. Those in the preliminary stages are the realistic candidates to be packaged through funding from the SADC Projects Preparation Development Facility (PPDF), besides other existing global mechanisms, to ensure that the region has a pipeline of bankable projects in which we are confident and can solicit serious appetite for funding and investment by both public and private off-takers. It would be remiss on my part if I did not recognise the support received from the UK Department for International Development (DFID), through TradeMark Southern Africa (TMSA), the main funder of the RIDMP development process. I would also like to commend the European Union and the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), both of which provided significant resources to complement the process within the framework of the SADC-International Cooperating Partner (ICP) partnership, as espoused by the Windhoek Declaration. It is important that we clearly lay out our strategy for the implementation of the RIDMP, bearing in mind that the Plan is not an end in itself, but a means to an end. Consequently I am comforted by the fact that institutional arrangements and a framework for monitoring, evaluation and reporting on implementation of the RIDMP has been agreed, as articulated by the Plan of Action. Infrastructure is the bedrock of our economic development and the deepening of our regional integration. It is therefore critical that, as Summit, we accord all our support to the implementation of the RIDMP. I note with great pride that, as part of our roadmap, a SADC Infrastructure Investment Summit has been pencilled for next year. I urge you all to accord this process considerable priority and indeed support. Angola is proud to not only have been party to this process, but to have led and guided it to successful conclusion, thanks to your cooperation. HE José Eduardo Dos Santos, President, Republic of Angola and outgoing SADC Chairperson 2 Executive Summary