MEDIA ALERT

MEC BHEKI CELE WILL HOST A PRESS CONFERENCE ON THE 2^ND AFRICA TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER CONFERENCE

KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison Mr. Bheki Cele will host a press conference to outline the proceedings of the 2^nd Africa Technology Transfer Conference that will be held in Pietermaritzburg from the 20-23 of September 2005.

The KwaZulu Natal Department of Transport will be the proud hosts of the second Africa Technology Transfer Centres (T² Centres). The T2 concept was initiated by the US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to provide a forum for cost effective transfer of transportation technologies to local and state government transportation departments.

Building on the success of T² Centres in the US, FHWA started to export the idea to other continents especially South American and Africa. At present there are many T² Centres in Latin America, Africa and the former Eastern Europe.

The first Technology Transfer Centre in South Africa was established in 1996 when the National Department of Transport signed an agreement with the US Federal Highway Administration. The centre is currently run by the South African National Road Agency (SANRAL) on behalf of the Department of Transport. The second T² Centre was started at the Transportation division of the CSIR in 2000.

The 1^st Africa Technology Transfer Conference was held in Arusha, Tanzania in May 2001 under the auspices of the Tanzania T² Centre. The conference attracted delegates from many parts of the world including Africa and the United States.

Following on the success of the first conference, a decision was made to stage similar conferences in other African countries every two years to create a forum for exchange of experiences and ideas relevant to the transfer of road transportation technologies. South Africa was selected as the host country for the 2^nd Africa T2 conference and the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport T² Centre was nominated to host it. The conference will take place in Pietermaritzburg between the 20^th and 23^rd September 2005.

The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport signed a Memorandum of Understanding with FHWA in 2000 to start the first of the provincial T² Centres. It was envisaged at that stage that the KZN T² Centre would assist in expanding the T² Centre concept to other provinces.

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