Ministers and Mayors from Lower Saxony
MECs and Mayors from the Eastern Cape
Government Officials from both Lower Saxony and the Eastern Cape
Captains of industry from Lower Saxony and the Eastern Cape
Ladies and gentlemen
Good morning
We are pleased to have been invited to this visit by the federal state of Lower Saxony as part of strengthening and servicing our partnership. The original twining between the Eastern Cape Provincial Government and Lower Saxony Province was signed by the then Premier Raymond Mhlaba and Prime Minister G Schroder in 1995. The main focus was to assist in the establishment of the Eastern Cape Provincial administration.
Honourable Prime Minster you will recall that at the time South Africa had just completed the first and historic democratic elections, of which the majority of our people elected the African National Congress (ANC). Flowing from this was the key task of establishing a united, non- racial and democratic administration.
Specifically for the Eastern Cape this meant the integration and transformation of the then Transkei, Ciskei and the Cape Provincial Administration into one. In that regard, we have made considerable progress with your support.
The twining Agreement was updated in 2004 by then Premier N Balindlela and Prime Minister Christian Wulff focusing on skills development through supporting our newly established FET Colleges and strengthening economic co-operation. The Eastern Cape currently hosts a number of big companies from Lower Saxony that have benefited through this twinning agreement.
We refer to VWSA, Continental Tyres AG, Steinhoff/PG Bison and Da Gama textiles. These companies have in the last six years made major investments in the Eastern Cape to ensure that existing jobs are protected, new jobs are created and that they remain competitive in the global markets through technological advancements.
Through the Lower Saxony ministry of education, our FET colleges have received a lot of support on areas of mechatronics, hospitality and tourism. This involved visiting lectures from Lower Saxony to the IKHALA and King Sabata Dalidyebo Further Education Training (FET) colleges in the Eastern Cape.
We have benefitted tremendously in the areas of Sports, arts and culture due to the work done by Mr Yock Wurms who is attached to our department of Sports recreation, Arts and Culture on a full time basis.
During our successful hosting of the 2010 FIFA soccer world Cup, the EC Provincial government was pleased to host the Minister of Internal Affairs and Sports in Lower Saxony Mr Uwe Schunemann during a game involving the German national team in Port Elizabeth.
Honourable Prime Minister on behalf of the people of the EC I would like to express gratitude for your continued commitment and support for the cooperation agreement and specifically for this invitation.
During 2009 South Africa conducted its forth national and provincial democratic elections and in that process the African National Congress was given a resounding new mandate to focus on the following key priorities namely Education, Creation decent work, Rural Development, fighting crime and corruption and creation of sustainable livelihoods and communities.
At the provincial level we have agreed on the eight key strategic priorities that are aligned to the electoral mandate and our Provincial Growth Development Plan (PGDP). In this context we would like the existing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) be revised and updated to take on board the lessons learned since 1995 and the new mandate.
We think that the revised MoU should strengthen cooperation in the areas of Safety and security, Sport and Culture, Research, skills development, tourism and increased investments in renewable energy, development of green industries through economic cooperation.
To this end I would like to extend a formal invitation to the Prime Minister and his government to visit our friendly province of the Eastern Cape. During your stay in South Africa we will have an opportunity to sign the updated MoU.
It is equally pleasing to note that we will be going back to South Africa with concrete projects to pursue. We will single out in this regard the possibility of establishing a photovoltaic plant in East London in partnership with a company based here in Lower Saxony as well as huge prospects for technology and skills exchange.
Our delegation included three members of the executive council, Executive mayor of Buffalo City Metropolitan council and a member of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro Mayoral committee, Senior government officials, Representatives of the four chambers of business active in the province, heads of the three departments and CEO’s of our Public Entities. This reflects the fact that we take this cooperation agreement seriously and we will continue to committee and support the objectives as outlined in 1995.
We would like to thank you Hon Prime Minister, your government and your people across the state of Lower Saxony for your warm hospitality and assistance during this successful trip by my government. We have had fruitful engagements with government, sports federations and business stakeholders. We will follow on all our responsibilities arising from the discussions.
We are looking forward to watching the 2011 FIFA Women Soccer World Cup quarterfinals match between German and Japan on Saturday in the home of VW (Wolfsburg). We are both pleased and sad that the German national team is progressing well and that we have no African team at this stage of the tournament.
We thank you for your kind hospitality.
