M Mangena: University of Cape Town Institute of Infectious Diseases and
Molecular Medicine

23 May 2006

Vice Chancellor, Prof Njabulo Ndebele;
Deputy Vice Chancellor of Research, Prof Cheryl de la Rey;
The Dean of Faculty of Health Sciences, Prof Marion Jacobs;
The Director of the Institute, Prof Greg Hussey;
Distinguished lecturers, professors and students;
Honoured guests;
Ladies and gentlemen

The Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine at this
University is one of the premier biotechnology institutions in the country. I
am proud to announce that this institute has been selected as South Africa�s
candidate to host a Component Centre of the International Centre for Genetic
Engineering and Biotechnology, the International Centre for Genetic Engineering
and Biotechnology (ICGEB).

Biotechnology is one of the priority Research and Development missions in
South Africa because it is one of the areas of our R&D outputs that has the
potential to assist government improve our economic growth rate to the level
where we can possibly halve poverty and unemployment rates by 2014. In support
of this national objective, my department is introducing measures to ensure
that the R&D produced by our science and technology system contributes
positively to the growth and development needs of all our citizens in a
sustainable manner. Our goal is to ensure that biotechnology and genetic
engineering benefit us and all the peoples of the continent.

The South African National R&D Strategy has identified biotechnology as
one of the key technology platforms that can be utilised to address our
economic and social challenges. And to this end, we launched the National
Biotechnology Strategy more than a year ago. The roll-out of the Biotechnology
Strategy is strongly supported by the National Malaria Initiative, the National
HIV/AIDS Vaccine Initiative (SAAVI), and the National Tuberculosis (TB)
Research Initiative (SATRI).

The opportunity to host one of the three major international laboratories of
the ICGEB, in addition to the two existing centres in Trieste, Italy and New
Delhi, India, is invaluable. Apart from enhancing the value of the work being
done in the biotechnology area in South Africa, the centre will also play a
critical role in addressing the health related challenges in the developing
world. The African Component Centre of the ICGEB is a new international
biotechnology hub that will be used to address, among others:

* the disease burden of the developing world;
* the agricultural challenges of poor crop yields, and to enhance post-harvest
capacities, and;
* the development of our manufacturing and industrial sectors through the use
of biotechnology.

The South African bid has full support from all spheres of government. The
DST will contribute financially toward the establishment of the ICGEB third
Component in South Africa in the order of R22 million over the next three
years. This is in addition to the R2,5 billion used for the rollout of the
National Biotechnology Strategy over the same period. This figure includes the
projected contributions by the DST, other public entities and the private
sector. We have in our audience today, representatives from other spheres of
government who will offer their comments.

The South African biotechnology community and institutions are ready to
collaborate with the international ICGEB membership and act as a bridge to the
African biotechnology community. South Africa is a major player in the
development and implementation of the African Union/New Partnership for
Africa�s Development (NEPAD) science and technology platform, and has had the
honour of being the inaugural Chair of the African Minister�s of Science and
Technology Council (AMCOST). We currently host the NEPAD Biotechnology node for
Southern Africa, the SANBio. The location of the third ICGEB Component in South
Africa will further support regional cooperation on Biotechnology and
strengthen the NEPAD and Southern Africa Development Community (SADC)
Bioscience platforms.

South Africa has a strong science tradition and is emerging as an important
global science and technology player in all multilateral fora, institutions and
platforms. She has managed to operate in both the developing country space,
through active participation in the Science and Technology platforms of the G77
grouping of developing countries, the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the
African Union/NEPAD, as well as in the developed country space through, for
example, bilateral agreements and active participation in EU Framework
Programmes. The latter can also be illustrated by South Africa obtaining the
status of permanent observer to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD) Committee for Science and Technology Policy. Further, South
Africa actively uses this relatively privileged position to organise for a net
inflow of knowledge and resources for science and technology into the
developing world.

The establishment of an ICGEB Component Centre in Africa has also enjoyed
the support of the Group of Eight (G8) countries. At the 2002 G8 Summit in
Kananaskis, G8 countries adopted the Africa Action Plan. This plan was the
response of the G8 to the launch, by African leaders, of the New Partnership
for Africa�s Development (NEPAD). The 2005 Gleneagles G8 Summit stated its
support towards the initiative to establish the third ICGEB component in
Africa. The AMCOST two Declaration in Dakar last year was explicit in its call
to the ICGEB Board of Governors to specifically locate the third Component
Centre in Africa, and we are delighted that the ICGEB has responded
accordingly.

As an African and a member of (AMCOST), I am delighted that there are two
other bids from Africa; one by Tanzania and the other by Nigeria. It certainly
bodes well for the development of Science in Africa that we are able to present
three good bids from the continent to the ICGEB.

Finally, we believe that South Africa more than adequately meets the
requirements for hosting a Component Centre of the ICGEB. The Department of
Science and Technology fully supports the bid proposal to the International
Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology to host an African component
right here at the University of Cape Town�s Institute of Infectious Diseases
and Molecular Medicine.

I thank you

Issued by: Department of Science and Technology
23 May 2006
Source: Department of Science and Technology (www.dst.gov.za)