The UN general debate would be preceded by the unveiling of a statue of former president Nelson Mandela and the historic Nelson Mandela Peace Summit, a high-level plenary meeting convened by the President of the General Assembly, Maria Espinosa, in honour of the centenary of the birth of South Africa’s first democratically elected president, Ramaphosa's spokesperson, Khusela Diko, said in a statement.

This year’s session would mark Ramaphosa’s inaugural participation in UNGA as head of state and government, where he would also outline South Africa’s domestic and foreign policy goals and priorities. These included the country’s land reform programme "aimed at fostering greater stability, inclusiveness, and transformation within the South African economy".

Ramaphosa was scheduled to meet CEOs of major global companies as part of the drive to attract foreign direct investment to ramp up the South African economy. This would form part of the build-up to South Africa’s International Investment Conference which would take place on October 26 and 27, with a focus on bringing investment of US100 billion into the South African economy over the next five years, Diko said.

African News Agency (ANA)