Pretoria - President Jacob Zuma will later today depart for Zambia where he is expected to undertake a three-day state visit aimed at cementing relations with that country.
Zuma will be accompanied by his wife Nompumelelo Zuma, several Cabinet ministers and a business delegation representing 60 companies in the sectors of energy and petroleum, ICT, infrastructure, financial services, healthcare, mining as well as agro-processing.
The Presidency said Zuma is to hold talks with President Rupiah Banda on various bilateral, regional and multilateral issues.
The two leaders are expected to discuss sharing and exchanging views on strengthening the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union (AU) as well as matters affecting the region including Zimbabwe and Madagascar.
Zuma will also commission Zambia's biggest agricultural project, the Nakambala sugar plantation. The project, situated at Mazabuka about 140km from Lusaka, is a R1.7bn investment by South African sugar company, Illovo Sugar.
Certain co-operation agreements are expected to be signed in the fields of energy, geology, mining and mineral beneficiation, the presidency said.
In addition, Memoranda of Understanding are scheduled to be signed, in the areas of regular diplomatic consultations, trade and industrial co-operation, mineral resources, agriculture and livestock and health.
