(Seychelles News Agency) - Seychelles President James Michel will be joining other leaders of member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) gathering in Zimbabwe this weekend for the heads of state and government summit.

The 34th summit of SADC leaders will take place on August 17 and 18 in the resort town of Victoria Falls.

In a press statement issued this afternoon State House said, Michel will be accompanied by the archipelago’s Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Barry Faure, the Seychelles Ambassador to South Africa and Permanent Representative to SADC, Ambassador Claude Morel, as well as senior officials from the Ministry of Finance, Trade and Investment, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Office of the President.

SADC Strategy for Economic Transformation: Leveraging the Region’s Diverse Resources for Sustainable Economic and Social Development through Beneficiation and Value Addition’ is the theme chosen for the summit.

SADC has 15 member states including Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The Seychelles islands joined the regional body in September 1997 but had to withdraw from the organisation in June 2003 because of financial and human resource constraints, according to the press statement.

It’s been six years since the Indian Ocean island nation re-joined SADC, from August 17, 2008.