17 November 2006
South African Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka has concluded her
five-day official visit to Portugal and Ireland yesterday, positive that she
had achieved most of the things she set out to attain. Mlambo-Ngcuka described
the visit as a learning curve.
The main objective of the visit was to promote and to further co-operate
with the two countries on the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for
South Africa (AsgiSA) and the Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition
(JIPSA).
"We choose Portugal and Ireland because both countries, in the European
context, are late developers; both of them went through a structural
adjustment, to re-engineer their economies in order for them to respond much
better to the same issues as South Africa; of unemployment, under development
and job creation," said Mlambo-Ngcuka.
Comparing the two countries, the Deputy President said South Africa could
draw from the experiences of the two countries in terms of economic
development.
"Portugal focused and invested more resources on infrastructure and, to some
extent, on human resource development. Attending to these helped them to be
where they are today. Now they have about six percent unemployment. Ireland
focused more on Education and this catapulted their performance and within a
decade their fortune changed dramatically. South Africa has to do both through
AsgiSA and JIPSA to catapult us into a new trajectory," said the Deputy
President.
In Portugal the Deputy President and her entourage, consisting of ministers
and business people, met with several senior politicians and business people.
South African businesses also met with their counterparts and were excited at
the possibilities and opportunities available especially because of the 2010
FIFA Soccer World Cup.
She participated in a number of seminars in Ireland such as the Education
Seminar under the theme "Co-operation between Ireland and the Republic of South
Africa in Skills Training and Development of Expertise" that was attended by
amongst others the South African Minister of Education Ms Naledi Pandor;
Professor Barney Pityana , Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of
South Africa (UNISA); Mr Tom Boland of the High Education Authority of Ireland;
and Dr Frank McMahan, Dublin Institute of Technology's Director of Economic
Affairs.
The Deputy President also participated in the Ireland-South Africa Business
Association seminar under the theme "Economic Prospects of the Republic of
South Africa and Ireland in the context of AsgiSA and JIPSA."
Mlambo-Ngcuka also met with Ireland's President Mary McAleese, Prime
Minister Bertie Ahern, Deputy Prime Minister Michale McDowell including
Ministers of Education and Science Mary Hanfin TD, and of Foreign Affairs
Dermot Ahern to further strengthen the already good relations.
She also thanked the host for the support during the dark days of apartheid.
Ireland was one of the few western European countries not to have a diplomatic
relationship with apartheid South Africa. The Deputy President's visit was the
first ever high profile visit by a South African government representative.
The Irish government also announced that they would be increasing their
direct foreign aid abroad. This fund, as they say, is targeted at Africa.
Ireland's foreign ministry indicated that they preferred giving the aided
countries assistance not only just money but also through person to person
contributions. They also mentioned that today, Friday, 17 November 2006, more
than 300 Irish volunteers would be flying out to South Africa to help in
building houses in the Western and Eastern Cape provinces. The volunteers pay
their way to South Africa and also contribute towards the buying of building
material for the houses to be built. Each volunteer contributed R35 000 towards
their trip thus helping a few destitute South African families.
The Deputy President was accompanied by amongst others the Ministers of
Education, Naledi Pandor; Transport, Jeff Radebe; Deputy Ministers of Foreign
Affairs, Sue van der Merwe; Trade and Industry, Elizabeth Thabethe and
Communications, Roy Padayachie.
"Ireland's example is an inspiration to us and a great example of what can
happen when all of us work together towards one goal. Ireland's success was not
automatic. They worked hard and received help when they needed it. We also have
to seriously and collectively put our shoulders to the wheel to turn the
corner. We are also confident that, like Ireland, by leveraging the help of our
friends around the world, we too will succeed," concluded Ms Mlambo-Ngcuka.
Enquiries:
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Cell:082 888 8783
Issued by: The Presidency
17 November 2006
