Commission between South Africa and Sweden
4 October 2007
The fifth session of the Binational Commission between South Africa and
Sweden took place in Stockholm, Sweden, on 3 and 4 October, under the
chairpersonship of the Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa, H E Ms
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, and the Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden, H E Ms Maud
Olofsson.
During two days of consultations, the co-chairs heard and welcomed progress
reports from the three Committees on political, economic, and social affairs
and co-operation. The scope of the discussions on national, regional and global
issues of common interest confirmed the longstanding, sincere and mutually
beneficial relationship between the countries, as well as the interest and wish
in taking this co-operation even further within the framework of the Binational
Commission.
In addition to the bilateral talks between the co-chairs Mlambo-Ngcuka and
Olofsson, separate discussions were held between the Deputy President and the
Swedish Ministers for Employment, Mr Sven-Otto Littorin and Higher Education
devoted particular attention to intensified co-operation around the South
African programme for Accelerated and Shared Growth South Africa (AsgiSA) and
the Joint Initiative for Priority Skills (Jipsa). Other matters raised in the
bilateral consultations include the promotion of the African agenda, HIV and
AIDS, economic relations and climate change.
The Deputy Foreign Minister of South Africa Mr Aziz Pahad met with the
Swedish Minister for Development, Ms Gunilla Carlsson, and the Swedish State
Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Mr Frank Belfrage, to discuss the deepening of
bilateral relations and regional developments, with focus on developments in
Sudan and Zimbabwe. The South African Deputy Minister for Arts and Culture, Ms
Ntombazana Botha, met with the Swedish Assistant State Secretary for Culture,
Mr Henrik Toremark, to explore the possibilities for an even closer
people-to-people co-operation and cultural interaction between the two
countries.
During a trade and investment seminar hosted by the Swedish Trade
Council and with participation from numerous Swedish companies and the South
African trade delegation accompanying Ms Mlambo-Ngcuka, the parties expressed a
great interest in further promoting the commercial links between the two
countries.
The Binational Commission was preceded by a joint seminar on security sector
reform and a meeting of the Swedish-South African Peace and Security
Working
Group, both held at expert level and with participation from a wide range of
organisations and institutions.
The Political Affairs Committee
The Committee welcomed the reports from the seminar on security sector
reform and the meeting of the working group on peace and security and endorsed
the recommendations presented. Particular attention was given to the further
exploration of concrete tripartite co-operation, in particular in the
Democratic Republic of Congo, southern Sudan and possibly also other areas.
Reports were also heard from the last round of the Defence Talks, where it
was noted that the policy dialogue should be further deepened and the
sequencing of meetings reviewed. The consultations planned for September had
been postponed and a new date is to be finalised. The committee discussed the
situation and developments in the Great Lakes region, the Horn of Africa,
Western Sahara and Zimbabwe, with the view of sharing analysis and elaborating
on possible joint activities aimed at promoting peace, security and
development.
Similarly, the parties exchanged information and assessments on European
issues, such as the future of Kosovo, and other international areas of concern,
including Iran, the Middle East peace process and Myanmar. It was agreed that
regular consultations should continue to take place as a way of sharing
assessments and identifying possible joint bilateral or multilateral
initiatives. On multilateral issues, Sweden and South Africa updated each other
on developments within the European Union (EU), Southern African Development
Community (SADC), the African Union (AU) and NEPAD. The importance of the
upcoming EU-Africa Summit and the preparations the South Africa-EU Troika
meeting in Pretoria on 10 October was discussed.
It was noted that the Four Nations Initiative on Governance and Management
of the United Nations (UN) constituted an excellent example of north-south
co-operation to further enhance multilateral institutions and solutions. It was
felt that there was scope for continued collaboration around UN reform. Both
countries also expressed support for a reform of the UN Security Council and a
need for making sure that the recently established Peace Building Commission
and Human Rights Council fulfil their mandates in a way that contributes to
international peace, security, development and respect for human rights. In the
follow up to the talks in Stockholm earlier this year, the committee
continued
discussions on the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, the UN Security
Council Resolution 1267 sanctions regime and the need for free and fair
procedures and a review mechanism, the work on a comprehensive convention on
international terrorism and capacity-building.
It was agreed to cooperate further around these issues. The progress made in
deepening the co-operation between the UN and the AU and other regional
organisations was moreover welcomed. In line with the commitment to further
promote gender equality and the advancement of women, including in areas and
situation of conflict and post-conflict, Sweden and South Africa have
co-chaired the Partnership for Gender Justice Initiative. While having passed
that particular leadership responsibility on to other concerned countries, the
interest and engagement in these issues remain and will be reflected in future
co-operation.
The committee took note of the ongoing dialogue on climate change, including
at ministerial in an informal meeting at Riksgränsen, Sweden, earlier this
year. Both countries emphasised the importance attached to the necessity of a
truly multilateral post-Kyoto regime and a decision at Bali on a roadmap for
the process. It was agreed that South Africa and Sweden should continue regular
facilitate global consensus, identify best practices, and promote transfer of
clean technologies.
The Economic Affairs Committee
The "Broader Economic Co-operation" constitutes the main vehicle for
promoting and enhancing bilateral commercial and other links between Sweden and
South Africa. The links are future oriented and of dynamic nature with the
potentiality to grow accordingly. Swedish and South African private enterprises
play an increasingly important role in the relations, as do institutions, on
both sides. Training and skills development will be important means to further
promote the economic and commercial relations.
Since the last BNC, several events have been undertaken to further deepen
the relations between the countries in the field of trade and economy. In March
2007, two Swedish awareness events were held, whereof one dealt with women
entrepreneurship. Women's role for development including economic and
commercial relations was underlined during the BNC talks and future projects
were discussed along this line.
To make full use of the business opportunities around the 2010 Fifa Soccer
World Cup, key stakeholders from government agencies, institutions and the
business society gathered in September 2006 for a day of deliberations on joint
projects. Some of the discussions were taken forward during a series of joint
workshops, seminars and presentations in connection with the celebrations of
the Swedish scientist Carl Linnaeus held at Kirstenbosch National Botanical
Garden.
Also related to the preparations for the FIFA Soccer World Cup, South Africa
welcomed the proposals from Sweden to support the development of a system for
disaster management, and agreed that further discussions on the matter should
take place between the two sides with the aim of reaching an agreement on
co-operation. In parallel, the economic relations have continued to develop.
Trade between the two countries has increased and a growing number of Swedish
companies are present in South Africa. It was agreed that additional efforts
are needed to promote export from South Africa to Sweden and that the trade
delegation which accompanied the Deputy President and the investment seminar
were important initiatives to this end. Among the concrete examples is an
agreement to host an event in Sweden aimed at promoting the work and products
of the growing number of South African black winemakers and to establish closer
links between the South African Department for Trade and Industry Open Trade
Gate Sweden.
The parties exchanged thoughts and ideas on the ongoing global trade
negotiations within World Trade Organisation (WTO), as well as the negotiations
Partnership Agreements between the EU and the SADC countries. It was agreed to
further explore regional cooperation in the area of trade related capacity
building. A staff exchange programme between actors in the field of trade will
be piloted.
South Africa provided information on recent developments regarding the Broad
Based Black Economic Empowerment and the implications and opportunities - for
Swedish business present in South Africa. Considerable time was spent on
discussing issues of relevance for AsgiSA and Jipsa, including the newly
launched Broader Economic Co-operation between the two countries. Through this
programme, jointly managed by the Swedish Trade Council and the South African
Department of Trade and Industry, funds are set aside for projects such as
placement programmes, training and skills development, and other initiatives
aimed at creating conditions for economic growth.
Related, and in agreement with the conclusions from the previous meeting,
discussions on exchange of experiences and expertise in the field of labour
market policies have been pursued and a ministerial delegation is scheduled to
visit Sweden in November this year.
The committee on Social Affairs and Co-operation
It was noted that the dynamics of development require continuous active
exchange and joint interventions between the parties and a commitment to be
flexible in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The work
of this Committee has thus been ongoing with weekly exchanges and regular
reporting between the parties to ensure transparency and accountability.
The committee revisited the minutes of the previous BNC meeting held in SA
in 2005 and found that on all aspects positive progress was made and found that
several new interventions were realised giving effect to the parties commitment
to achieve the MDGs and to make aid more effective in general.
Based on a common interest in further strengthening the UN system in the
field of development, parties compared notes on the ongoing reform processes,
putting particular emphasis on issues such as system wide coherence, gender
equality and environment. Sweden informed about the Commission on Climate
Change and Development it intends to launch and South Africa expressed its
interest in working closely together in the field of climate change.
The committee noted that South Africa and Sweden have a rich common history
in the field of development and that the Parties now have to work out
principles for future relationship beyond 2008. These will reflect the strong
relation and build on current best practices, both in South Africa as well as
in the African region and globally. It is foreseen that the relationship will
be characterised by a transformed relation between South Africa and Sweden from
a traditional development co-operation to a partnership between equals.
This future collaboration should be based on principles of mutual benefits,
added value, common interests and shared responsibilities. Both parties
underlined the need for innovative forms of collaboration and fiscal
sustainability. Furthermore the Committee stated that the two countries are
looking forward to developing the transformed relationship, where the
co-operation is driven mainly by the cooperating partners themselves both from
public and private sectors.
The parties will continue to develop institutional collaborations in areas
that are jointly defined. The new collaboration will incorporate institutional
partnerships and tripartite co-operation. Furthermore, both parties agreed to
continue strengthening the partnership aimed at fighting HIV and Aids in South
Africa, in the African region and the world. To this end a new strategic
framework will be elaborated in consultative way during 2008.
Enquiries:
Thabang Chiloane
Cell: 082 888 8783
Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
4 October 2007
Source: SAPA
