N Dlamini Zuma: National African Federated Chamber of Commerce and
Industry Annual Conference

4 October 2007

Programme Director
President of Nafcoc, Ms Buhle Mthethwa
Representatives of Nafcoc structures
Ladies and gentlemen
All protocols observed

Thank you for the invitation to join you this evening. I would like to
congratulate Buhle Mthethwa, for everything she is doing to ensure that this
important business organisation advances the goal of its members and our
country as a whole. I would also like to congratulate Nafcoc's members for
selecting a woman of Buhle Mthethwa's calibre as their president.

Nafcoc and its enterprises have the power to change the lives of millions of
our people for the better creating jobs, generating wealth, providing needed
goods and services, acquiring new technologies, developing new skills. This is
a very pivotal role that can contribute greatly to our sustained economic
development. As a result of apartheid we have inherited a vastly unequal
society, an economy that over centuries was cultivated to bring wealth only to
a few and to impoverish the black majority of people.

The effects of this deliberate impoverishment have been immense and
far-reaching apartheid structured the state and its apparatuses, limited the
creativity and entrepreneurship of black peasants, shopkeepers, technical
experts, would-be industrialists, structured our very lives and sought to
control our minds. The very structures that were in place even within the
economy sought to undermine the contribution of black people and inculcate a
sense of inferiority. It is only through the resilience of the human spirit
that organisations like Nafcoc survived.

This has led to the present reality we are trying to change. Today we do not
have a robust small, medium and micro enterprises (SMME) sector because the
past stifled the present. I am reminded of the words of the Nicaraguan
revolutionary and writer, Gioconda Belli in her book "The Country under my
Skin."

She writes:

"The future is a construct that is shaped in the present and that is why to
be responsible in the present is the only way of taking serious responsibility
for the future. What is important is not the fulfilment of all one's dreams,
but the stubborn determination to continue dreaming. We will have grandchildren
and they will have children too. The world will continue and whether we know it
or not, we are deciding its course every day."

Indeed what we are doing today is constructing and shaping the future. Let
us use this opportunity every day to unleash the Power of Enterprises through
Cooperatives and Entrepreneurship, thus ensuring a future with vibrant SMMEs
and co-operatives. Internationally SMMEs and co-operatives have been recognised
worldwide as very important contributors to job creation. In fact they are
indispensable sources of employment according to the International Labour
Organisation (ILO).

According to ILO research "an increase in the number of SMMEs and
co-operatives can provide decent employment to the many people around the world
now toiling under poor working conditions and trapped in poverty."
Co-operatives "have the potential to advance the concept of decent work"
because they:

* "promote fundamental principles and rights at work by encouraging freedom
of association and work-place democracy
* create greater opportunities for women and men to secure decent employment
and income by enabling their members to combine resources, skills and
talents
* enhance the coverage and effectiveness of social protection by providing the
socially excluded with basic social services."

The United Nations (UN) has also recognised the importance of co-operatives.
According to Kofi Annan, then UN Secretary General (in 2001),

"The United Nations recognises the contributions co-operatives can make to
achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of full and productive
employment, eradicating poverty, enhancing social integration and promoting the
advancement of women. For the co-operative movement to fulfil this potential
governments need to develop and sustain a supportive environment that allows
autonomous co-operatives to grow.

By extending ownership, co-operatives give their members the opportunity not
only to become stakeholders in an economic enterprise, but actively to
participate in its future. The values of co-operation; equity, solidarity,
self-help and mutual responsibility are cornerstones of our shared endeavour to
build a fairer world."

We need to recognise that (SMMEs) and co-operatives are burgeoning in the
world today the modern economy has offered many opportunities for them to
blossom and in a range of sectors, productive, marketing, tourism, services,
agriculture and housing to name a few. The European Union estimates that there
are more that 88 000 co-operatives operating in the region. They are found
everywhere e.g. in United States of America (USA), Russia, Nicaragua, China,
Scandinavia and many more.

Of course the growing strength in numbers means that we need to recognise
that here in South Africa and on the African continent as a whole there is
still a lot of scope to nurture and incubate new enterprises. Furthermore the
progress of humankind depends on innovation, creativity, and solidarity. We
need to recognise that we shall only succeed in these endeavours if the
government makes sure that we have universal education, if we focus our efforts
on skills development as indeed we are, if we build confidence in our people,
if there is innovation and a creative approach and if there is access to
capital. Of course the most important of these is education. In a world of new
technologies, knowledge based industries, a globally competitive world,
education and skills development is crucial.

Assisting business to unleash that power is an essential task of government,
which should be kept in mind by all departments, including now more than ever
those which also focus on international issues. In this modern, highly
interconnected world, the line between foreign and domestic policy is
increasingly blurred. Decisions made beyond our borders can and do have as
great an impact on all our lives as decisions made at home, for both good and
ill. This has always been true to some extent, but never before to the extent
that it is true today.

The stage that Nafcoc and its members play on is now a global one. The small
and medium enterprises you organisation represents are not exempt from the
rigour, rules and possibilities of the global economy. Empowerment companies,
if they are to be truly empowering, need to be able to stand the heat in the
global kitchen and to avail themselves of the bounty the global kitchen has to
offer. Our job in government is to create and strengthen conditions under which
you can do what you do best, and in so doing, advance the common cause of a
prosperous and successful country, free of want and fear.

I will not go into detail about what government is doing, since government
agencies have already spoken to you at this conference. What we need is a truly
South African culture of enterprises. We are born of a generation who have
fought a liberation struggle and won what this generation does, what
commitments it makes is what will count for the future. Previous generations
have shown their heroism in the line of fire. We need to show the heroism of
our generation.

Belli in the same book "Country of my Skin" says the following:

"Life has shown me that not every commitment requires payment in blood, or
the heroism of doing it in the line of fire. There is a heroism inherent to
peace and stability, an accessible, everyday heroism that may not challenge us
with the threat of death, but which challenges us to squeeze every last
possibility out of life, and to live not one but several lives all at the same
time. To accept oneself as a multiple being in time and space is part of modern
life, and one of the possibilities enjoyed by those of us who live in an era in
which technology can be embraced as a liberating rather than alienating
force."

All of us should show our heroism in "Unleashing the Power of Enterprises
through Co-operatives and Entrepreneurship" and working systematically to
produce a robust SMME and co-operative sector. We need to show our heroism in
innovation, creativity and new ways of thinking.

* Creativity and innovation ought to be coupled with community
responsibility. We are only as rich as the poor among us. As business, you will
only have consumers and purchasers of your services and goods as long as people
can afford these and as long as they too develop in complexity as society
becomes more sophisticated.

* A woman in a rural community will only have the luxury of making a choice
between products competing for attention on the shelves if she herself has free
time to think and make a conscious choice, as a result of the freedom that
comes from modernisation of infrastructure, the provision of water and
electrification as well as health and education. So business must also be a
partner with government in development.

* As South African business you must also seek to create a market niche for
yourself. This requires a learned understanding of our identity, our strengths,
our national character and what skills, knowledge and resources we can best
harness and pool to compete effectively in the wider world.

Of course, all this requires that you seek and have the necessary
information in order to enter this international arena of possibilities based
on your own self-determination and self-knowledge. Business should be aware of
the many and complex roles it has to fulfil and what it needs to do in order to
fulfil them. To organise not only yourself, but also society in general and
services, to create more favourable conditions for your own success in the
context of a rapidly modernising and globalising economy is an immense
responsibility but it is the only way to nurture sustainability to strive for
permanence even as we live in an ever-changing world!

This is where all organisations that bring business together can offer the
most benefit, because together you are not only a network but a pool of
resources, intellect, practical and technical expertise, from which each can
benefit. Nafcoc ought to continue to play an active role in fostering a culture
of searching for new and better ways of doing business; in pooling and
collectively sharing ideas and labour on service provision for instance, and in
promoting progressive and patriotic business values that seek to define and
identify what we can do best as South Africans in the world of business.

Operating on the foundations that the developmental state has created and
based on this knowledge capacity and infrastructure capabilities, SMMEs have it
within their grasp to produce something wholly different and new having learnt
from the past to create something autonomous and independent and in this way
forging a new road ahead that can thus benefit society as a whole. You are
already doing this. We welcome the thinking on the co-operative bank.

Government has created an environment conducive for private investments from
which the investors can make returns, and through which employment and
technological progress can be derived. Some of the benefits accrued return
through direct investments into areas which will help national development, to
play a central role in providing public goods and to ensure social
responsibility.

Our job in government is to create and strengthen conditions under which you
can do what you do best, and in so doing, advance the common cause of a
prosperous and successful country, free of want and fear. Nafcoc has within it
the possibilities to forge the new road also in the international arena and in
so doing help to achieve the strategic imperatives of the country.

I would like to make mention of some of the opportunities that do exist that
representatives of Nafcoc, SMMEs, can take up in the international arena. The
Department of Foreign Affairs can give information and assist where it can, I
can give you some of these opportunities to be put up on your website.

Business opportunities in the international arena

Africa

South Africa is now the biggest investor in Africa. Africa is a laboratory
of possibilities. In 2050 Africa will have the fastest growing population. The
majority of the world's mineral resources are to be found on our continent, but
unfortunately we sell these as raw materials. The New Partnership for Africa's
Development (Nepad) project encourages us to add value. In West Africa they
have good soil. They have fruit but not agro-processing which they need. In the
field of trade and investment, a number of sectors exist throughout the
continent that needs to be further explored as business opportunities:

They are construction, small scale mining and beneficiation. Some of the
solid minerals are uranium, bauxite, gold etc as well as oil and gas.
Opportunities also exist in agriculture and agro-processing (with the need to
enhance existing infrastructure), Textiles, hospitality and tourism offer
possibilities as well as handicraft and interior decoration. Marine resources
are also an important area as well as the very important provision of
infrastructure such as telecommunications, road networks, apartments etc.

Within North Africa in particular, there are niche market opportunities in
Information Communication Technology (ICT), paper and pulp in Tunisia as well
as public works programmes in Libya and Algeria. Within the Southern African
Development Community (SADC) region the service sector is blooming and there
are also opportunities in fishing, food industry technologies and agriculture.
West and Central Africa with their large markets provide enormous opportunities
for South African SMMEs these are in small-scale mining, construction, oil and
gas services and agriculture among others.

Asia

We are also looking east. There is a new Asia-Africa strategic partnership.
This is also meant for business to forge links. You must take advantage of
these opportunities.

Japan

South Africa has strengthened its relations with the East. We have seen an
opening of business opportunities with Japan. The government of Japan is
assisting the province of KwaZulu-Natal in SMME development, having deployed an
SMME expert in the province and implementing an SMME Promotion Project. Japan
has been assisting developing countries through its One Village, One Product
Project and South Africa has been invited to attend a training course of this
project in the 1st quarter of 2008.

China

Bilateral trade between South Africa and China is rapidly growing and there
is a huge potential for further growth due to the strong complementarities
between our two economies. Sustainable trade growth will be beneficial, not
only in developing our economy, but also in improving the living standards of
people in South Africa. Whilst there is a trade deficit in favour of the
People's Republic of China (PRC), President Hu Jintao has committed the PRC to
working together with South Africa to create a win-win economic situation and
improving the structure of bilateral trade by promoting South Africa's exports
to China in terms of higher value added products.

We have in place the necessary legal framework in terms of Agreements on
Promotion Bilateral Trade and Economic Co-operation to help promote trade and
economic interaction as well as Phyto-Sanitary Protocols for the export of
citrus fruit, table grapes, tobacco leaf, pork and poultry as well as a Joint
Agricultural Co-operation Working Group to assist with agriculturally related
trade.

The second leg of the project will afford the opportunity to showcase our
products in a series of commodity and trade fairs which will form part of the
year long series of events in 2008 celebrating the 10th anniversary of the
establishment of diplomatic relations with the PRC.

The third and final leg of the project aimed at marketing brand South Africa
in China will see South Africa participate in the 2010 Shanghai Expo which will
afford companies and South African businesses the opportunity to showcase their
products and establish links with Chinese business over a period of six
months.

There are numerous opportunities for trading and doing business with China.
The following South African products will get preferential access to the
Chinese market: oranges, mandarins, clementines and other citrus, jams, fruit
jellies, marmalade, fruit purees, cooked fruit, temporarily preserved fruit,
fruit and vegetable juices including unfermented grape juice, fresh and dried
grapes, vegetables, Also alkaloids, natural or reproduced by synthesis, paper
and paperboard, impregnate, coat, surfaced coloured, paper and paperboard in
notes or sheets. As well as, material of animal origin, excluding bones, horns,
hooves, claws, coral, shell.

Vietnam

After the war in Vietnam they had to import rice. Now they are second
biggest exporter of rice in the world. They want to work with us. Vietnam's
exports to South Africa are mainly footwear and vegetable products, mineral
products, textiles, machinery, etc. Our exports include base metals, wood and
articles of wood, as well as machinery and mechanical appliances, prepared
foodstuffs, products of chemical and allied industries, animals and animal
products, etc.

There is good potential for export of mining equipment and mineral products,
automotives, medical equipment, agricultural products, machinery and general
trading commodities and services. South African companies can also benefit from
bidding on construction projects, the building of roads, telecommunications,
electricity and water management.

During our recent visit, we agreed that co-operation in fishery,
transportation, post and telecommunications, tourism, cultural exchange, arts,
banking, sports, environment, meteorology, disaster management and rural
education should be improved and there should be co-operation on capacity
building and forest management as well as timber processing and the making of
furniture.

India

India is also becoming a valuable partner for South African enterprises. The
JMC has been an important framework for bilateral engagement. Export
opportunities for South Africa include mining technology, specialised equipment
in security and the medical sector, fresh produce, beverages, processed food as
well as prepayment metering and revenue management technology and automotive
parts. An important area of growth is also tourism, with India providing the
largest tourist grouping from Asia.

India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA) opportunities

In about two weeks time the second summit of the India Brazil South Africa
Dialogue Forum is taking place. Meetings will take place from 15 to 16 October
2007 for business, academia, parliamentarians, women representatives and
cultural performers. I hope that Nafcoc is part of this engagement. The second
summit, as well as the variety of trilateral initiatives that are actively
being pursued in over 14 identified co-operation areas under the umbrella of
IBSA, offers unique opportunities and an ideal South-South co-operation
framework within which South African business could get involved to widen its
commercial horizons.

India, Brazil and South Africa trilateral, share a coincidence of interests
in so far as we have common hopes, aspirations and challenges. Through IBSA we
have created a platform from which we can attend to these many and varied
challenges. The role of business is very critical. The IBSA initiative last
year had its first Business Summit. IBSA also offers greater business
opportunities from maritime and aviation perspectives; it creates opportunities
for better movement of goods and people between three great continents and thus
ensure increased business prospects. This includes the area of agriculture,
especially with regard to research, trade and the role of agriculture in rural
development.

Again, business is central to the on-going challenges of information and
communication technology and the role of ICT in development in our countries
and regions. There also ought to be closer co-operation between the IBSA
countries in the areas of mining, beneficiation and energy. We are also
exploring the prospect of a Trilateral Free Trade Agreement (TFTA) and this
should bode well for business.

To give validity to the ambitions of IBSA, the business communities in all
three countries should continue to explore what it is that they can trade
between and among each other. IBSA presents our business communities with an
opportunity to build the types of networks and critical mass that is required
to play a leading role in the global value chain and economy.

In addition, as you may be aware, negotiations are ongoing to study the
modalities for the possible conclusion of a future Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
between Southern African Customs Union (SACU), Southern Common Market
(MERCOSUR) and India. Should this succeed, this would increase potential
positive business spin-offs for our region. As an emerging economic region in a
global environment of high demands, Africa could be ideally placed within this
context.

Opportunities in the north

Similarly we also need to look at African Growth and Opportunity Act AGOA to
see what opportunities we can exploit through this act. In recent months South
Africa has also taken its relations with the EU to deeper and more strategic
levels. SMMEs need to look into this relationship and see what opportunities
exist.

Some business opportunities in Latin America

Over the years we have expanded our missions in Latin America, giving us the
ability to build strategic partnerships to diversify our trade, to attract
foreign direct investment (FDI) and to facilitate investment opportunities for
South African business. These interventions have and will continue to have
positive economic spin-offs for South African business. Particular
opportunities exist worth mentioning:

Trade between South Africa and Venezuela has thus far not yet been fully
explored. South African exporters have shown an interest in the Venezuelan
market which includes prefabricated housing and pre-paid electricity meters.
With regard to the latter, 300 South African meters have been installed in a
Caracas low cost housing; more opportunities now exist for further expansion in
this regard.

South Africa has traditionally registered a constant flow of economic
activity with Colombia, with South Africa maintaining a favourable positive
balance. Mining offers opportunities for partnerships and while big companies
are taking advantage of these opportunities; there is still room for smaller
players to come on board.

Bilateral trade between Peru and South Africa presents many opportunities
for diversification and value-added trade and such a move will be in line with
both countries industrial policy to diversify their industrial policy. As you
have noted, there are significant opportunities in South America. Business
remains an important vehicle to strengthen our relations, and we have great
expectations as to the success that we will achieve.

Economic opportunities in the African Diaspora

Next year South Africa will be hosting the Africa-African Diaspora Summit.
This is an important engagement. Business must be part of the meetings that
lead up to this event. As you may be aware, South Africa at the request of the
African Union has also done a lot of work in strengthening the relationship
between African and its Diaspora. There are also bilateral benefits that South
Africa can accrue from the African Diaspora relationship. These include
strengthened historical and cultural ties; expanded trade opportunities;
increased tourism; skills exchanges and increased multilateral
co-operation.

Some of the recommendations from the Regional Consultative Conferences on
the Diaspora specifically address the issue of SMMEs and business or investment
co-operation between Africa and its Diaspora. Specifically, for Nafcoc,
relationships between chambers of commerce and portals of communication must be
established to include what Africans in the Diaspora can offer, in addition to
investment opportunities on the African continent.

A number of African and Diaspora regions lack the capacity and economic
structures to take advantage of the opportunities provided by globalisation.
The Diaspora represents a significant market opportunity for African e-commerce
entrepreneurs. Therefore, opportunities exist in the business-to-business,
business-to-consumer, and consumer-to-business domains. African communities in
the Diaspora already represent a significant source of capital for Africa via
remittances and other forms of transfer. Rural tele-centres represent one
significant way that ICT access can reach the grassroots.

Conclusion

A recent report of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), an agency of
the World Bank, called 'Doing Business' says that "doing business has become
easier in some parts of Africa." The report attributes the ease of doing
business in Africa to higher percentages of women among entrepreneurs and
employees. South Africa as 35th out of 178 countries is considered one of the
easiest places in which to do business. This indeed bodes well for the
future.

Together as government and business we can demonstrate the heroism of our
generation by showing our commitment to Unleashing the Power of Enterprises
through Cooperatives and Entrepreneurship. Let each day present a new
opportunity to strengthen your businesses and initiate new enterprises.

I wish you well in your work and a good evening.

I thank you.

Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
4 October 2007