Seminar: "Co-operation and Development"
30 January 2007
First Lady Mrs Zanele Mbeki
Representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Chile,
organisers of this seminar,
Ambassador of the Republic of Chile, Ambassador Claudio Herrera
Minister of Mineral and Energy of South Africa, Ms Bulewa Sonjica
Minister of Social Development of South Africa, Mr Zola Skweyiya
Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, Mr Derek Hanekom
Deputy Minister of Mining of the Republic of Chile, Ms Marisol Aravena
Deputy Minister of Finance of Mozambique, Mr Pedro Couto
Deputy Minister of Mining of Mozambique, Mr Abdulrazak Normahomed
Distinguished delegations from Angola, Mozambique, Chile, Brazil, South
Africa,
Deputy Executive Secretary of the Southern African Development Community
(SADC), Representatives of the World Bank and the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP)
Members of the Diplomatic Corps
In 2002, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan likened our planet to
"a small boat, driven by a fierce gale through dark and unchartered waters,
with more people crowded on board, hoping desperately to survive. None of us�
can afford to ignore the condition of our fellow passengers. If they are sick,
all of us risk infection. And if they are angry, all of us can easily get
hurt."
In the light of this reality, it is a particular honour and privilege to
participate in this Intergovernmental Seminar "Co-operation and
Development."
This seminar is yet another message that the South is not a passive product
of the global agenda but is an important instrument to produce a developmental
agenda that is committed to fighting poverty and underdevelopment and improving
the quality of life of all our peoples.
We will discuss issues such as democracy, good governance, human rights and
human security. We must do so in the context of the greatest challenge we face,
viz. the fight against underdevelopment and poverty.
A delegation of South African Women in Dialogue (SAWID) headed by our First
Lady Ms Zanele Mbeki, visited Chile between 19 to 25 September 2006 to study
Chile's poverty reduction programmes and to consider their applicability to
South Africa. Some findings from this visit were that Chile was able to reduce
poverty from 45% poverty in 1987 to 18% in 2004. This seminar is an important
opportunity for us to discuss the lessons of Chile, which emerged out of the
nightmare of the murder of President Allende, "regime change" and the brutal
Pinochet military dictatorship.
Today, democratic Chile has made strides in overcoming poverty, achieving
high and sustainable economic growth, and bringing benefits to its people.
These are key objectives for all of us and therefore I could not think of a
better time for us to be meeting here to exchange views and experiences, and to
ask what we need to do to better serve the people we represent.
Our exchanges should lead to the concrete identification of potential
opportunities for developmental co-operation amongst ourselves and between
Africa and Latin America.
This seminar is particularly inspiring in that it includes our Chilean,
Angolan, Brazilian and Mozambique partners. We must take this opportunity to
again acknowledge the role of Angola and Mozambique in South Africa's
democratisation process. We must also thank the Chileans and Brazilian people
for the support given to the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola
(MPLA), the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO) and the African
National Congress (ANC). Together we won the battle against dictatorships, the
Portuguese colonialism and apartheid. Now we unite to fight another war, a war
against poverty and underdevelopment.
This seminar provides an opportunity for us as developing countries of our
respective regions to reflect and consider how best to advance the interests of
our countries and our peoples in the spirit of South-South solidarity.
We seek to achieve these objectives in a very challenging environment, inter
alia:
* globalisation
* World Trade Organisation (WTO)
* Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The time has never been more opportune for the consolidation of co-operation
on development between our two regions. Currently, our two countries are
showing impressive stability and economic growth thereby giving content to our
common objective of South-South Co-operation. We hope that through our
co-operation this positive stability and economic growth will be consciously
translated into development favourable to the ordinary masses of our
people.
The challenge is to develop a strategy to position the developing countries
in a way that will ensure that we are able to make the global agenda to be
relevant to our interests. Such a strategy should be based on solidarity and
partnership of the countries of the South through integration and co-operation.
This closing of rank will result in the developing countries using our
collective strength to turn the global agenda to be favourable to our
interests. As we enter the 21st century, we see the South as being well
positioned to take the lead and ownership of this century. This potential is
evidenced by the impressive growth of emerging powers from the South, inter
alia, China, India, and Brazil.
Chairperson,
To achieve our objectives, co-operation and development that we seek to
achieve should be based on a developmental paradigm that addresses
inequalities, poverty, underdevelopment and marginalisation as common
challenges to our countries. Therefore, co-operation and development between us
should be based on political, economic and social solidarity which has a
progressive and developmental content
This seminar should also contribute to broadening access to southern
technology and expertise through:
1) sharing of practical knowledge, experiences and technology from the South
for the benefit of the South
2) the maintenance of networking and communications between the relevant
stakeholders of Angola, Mozambique, Brazil, Chile and South Africa
3) enabling institutions of our countries to promote our expertise and
technology to a broader audience of the South.
Indeed, the time has never been more opportune. The consolidation of
democracy in South America and in Africa in recent years has profoundly altered
the context of our relations and created an environment for our relations to
flourish. In addition, both our continents are showing impressive economic
growth and are beginning to play a more prominent role in the global economy,
thereby strengthening the prospects of our common objective of South-South
Cooperation.
Some among us have made important strides in overcoming poverty, achieving
high and sustainable economic growth, and bringing the benefits to our people.
These are key objectives for all of us, and accordingly I could not think of a
better time for us to be meeting here today to exchange views and experiences,
and to ask what we need to do to better serve the people we represent.
As democratic governments, responsive to the needs of our people, we share
the same desire for a world that is more just and equitable. Hence our mutual
support for a strong multilateral system and the much needed reform of the
United Nations (UN) system, including the Bretton Woods Institutions; the early
conclusion of the Doha Development Round of the WTO; and international
co-operation in achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
Our dialogue must deal with the major challenges to international peace and
stability, the Palestinian issue, Iraq, Afghanistan and the nuclear issue
relating to Iran's nuclear programme.
Chairperson,
* Challenges of the African continent
* New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).
The success of NEPAD is based on the building blocks of sub-regional
integration.
From a Southern African regional integration perspective, from which we have
three partners in our midst, namely Angola, Mozambique and South Africa,
regionalism is a key challenge. At the regional level, the Southern African
Development Community, as the foundation for its regional, continental and
international engagements. On the economic front, SADC Member States are
implementing far-reaching economic reforms, in pursuance of their shared vision
of creating a single economic space through deeper economic integration.
Through the implementation of appropriate macro-economic policies, some of the
SADC Member-States have managed to put themselves on a sustainable economic
growth path. Members of the organisation have come to see a need to move
functional integration to embrace a developmental integration.
To this end, the region has established the following important targets:
* the formation of a Free Trade Area by 2008
* the completion of negotiations of the SADC Customs Union by 2010
* the completion of negotiations of the SADC Common Market by 2015
* diversification of industrial structures and exports with more emphasis on
value addition across all economic sectors by 2015
* sustain export growth rate of at least 5% annually
* increase in intra-regional trade to at least 35% by 2008
* increase in manufacturing as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to
25% by 2015.
We are all committed to democracy, protection of human rights and good
governance. This can be "force-fed" and must take into consideration the
concrete realities and the cultural environment. In Africa we have the African
Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).
There are tremendous possibilities but also many challenges. The seminar
must identify how we, as SADC can further exploit the possibilities and deal
with the many challenges.
In addition to Chile's and Brazil's expertise on regional integration, it
will be particularly helpful to share your experiences of the North element in
such initiatives that may have helped trigger convergence processes and
accelerated economic growth.
As we meet we know that two months ago, the first Africa/South America
Summit was held in Abuja, Nigeria. It served as a multidimensional co-operation
discussion forum whose aim was basically the broadening and strengthening modes
of co-operation between the two continental neighbours. This was a major step
in the development of South-South Co-operation, which we believe will lead to
new institutional linkages, to the benefit of both continents.
We also have the SADC-Mercosur and India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA)
initiatives as foundations to build effective and mutually beneficial
co-operation between our two regions.
In that context, the science and technology and mining part of the Seminar
is of fundamental importance. Such deliberations and subsequent actions will
certainly contribute to change of the nature of the relations between our two
continents, particularly in joint ventures, investment, financial flows as well
as regional, and in this context, transcontinental integration. It will also
add value in enhancing endogenous capacities as well as forging closer links
and sharing knowledge amongst Angola, Brazil, Chile, Mozambique and South
Africa in these fields.
Our economies are characterised and in some cases dominated by mining and
agriculture. We must answer the question - what must we do to be much more than
just exporters of raw materials and basic commodities. How do we increasingly
add value to our products; expand our manufacturing base; trade in services;
become investors in each others' industries; exchange technologies, and
co-operate in innovation?
Chairperson,
Our mutual solidarity and friendship goes back a long way. Our struggle for
freedom and democracy has largely been won. Now we are opening a new trench of
struggle for international peace and stability, the struggle against poverty,
underdevelopment, global inequality and marginalisation. In partnership we can
win this battle.
I am confident that we will have a very successful seminar.
A Luta Continua!
Venceramos!
Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
30 January 2007
