2 October 2007
South African President Thabo Mbeki will host his counterpart German
Chancellor Angela Merkel for political, economic and trade relations at the
Union Buildings in Pretoria on Friday, 5 October 2007.
President Thabo Mbeki will host his counterpart within the context of South
Africa's commitment to consolidate and strengthen north-south relations with a
view to promote the African developmental agenda.
In this regard, Germany is the current chair of the Group of 8 (G8) and
hosted the 2007 Summit in Heiligendamm in June. Germany strongly advocated for
the continued support of the G8 for the African developmental agenda as well as
to encourage developed countries to meet its commitments in terms of the G8
Africa Action Plan.
Germany is also a member of the European Union, with which South Africa has
entered into a Strategic Partnership on 14 May 2007 and with which it is
currently also engaged in negotiations to finalise the Review of the South
Africa-European Union Trade, Development and Co-operation Agreement (TDCA). A
meeting between South Africa's Foreign Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma and
the European Union Ministerial Troika will be held in South Africa on 10
October 2007.
Accordingly, issues on the agenda of discussions between President Mbeki and
Chancellor Merkel at the Union Buildings on Friday, 5 October 2007, are
expected to include, among others:
* the status and promotion of bilateral political, economic and trade
relations between both countries with particular emphasis on how to address the
trade imbalance that is currently in favour of Germany; German support for the
Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA) and Joint
Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition (Jipsa) programmes with the view to
further expanding ties and co-operation in skills development
* German support towards South Africa's hosting of the 2010 Soccer World
Cup
* outcomes of the 62nd session of the United Nations General Assembly and the
special summit of the Security Council chaired by the French Presidency on
challenges facing the African continent
* a follow-up of the June 2007 Heiligendamm G8 Summit with a view to evaluating
progress on the issue of climate change and addressing the challenges facing
Africa
* conflict resolution and post-conflict reconstruction with particular
reference to:
* Democratic Republic of Congo
* Somalia
* Sudan including the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA)
and Darfur situation
* a review of political and economic regional developments within the European
Union and Southern African Development Community (SADC)
* multilateral co-operation including the World Trade Organisation/Doha
negotiations, the comprehensive reform of the United Nations and climate
change
* other international issues of mutual concern including nuclear
non-proliferation and the Middle East peace process.
While in South Africa, Chancellor Merkel will, together with President
Mbeki, participate in a business round table that will bring together business
leaders from South Africa and Germany, visit Soccer City where she will be
briefed on preparations towards the hosting of the 2010 Soccer World Cup,
attend a gala dinner hosted by the German Chamber of Commerce, hold discussions
with Cape Town Mayor Helen Zille as well as visit the Hope HIV and AIDS and
"Biota Africa" projects in Cape Town.
Bilateral economic relations
* South Africa ranks 30th as a source country for Germany's imports and 22nd
as an export destination. Germany is South Africa's largest import partner and
fourth largest export partner after Japan, the United Kingdom and the United
States of America (USA).
* Germany ranks with the United Kingdom and the USA among the three largest
economic role players in South Africa regarding trade, investment, finance and
tourism. Major investments by German companies include BMW, DaimlerChrysler,
Volkswagen, Siemens, Bayer and Ferrostaal.
* Major South African exports to Germany include base metals such as ferro
alloys, primary commodities notably coal, iron ores/metal ash, food products
and motor vehicles/parts. Major South African imports from Germany include
machinery, motor vehicles/parts, electro-technical products, chemicals and
pharmaceuticals.
* During the period December 2005 to December 2006, South African exports to
Germany increased by nearly 20% whereas in the same period German exports to
South Africa only rose seven percent.
In this period the largest category of South Africa exports consisted of
finished products (35%), followed by semi-finished products (27%),
outperforming South Africa exports of raw materials (25%).
The tourism sector has been a major growth area with approximately 250 000
Germans visiting the country annually since 1997, making Germany one of South
Africa's biggest source markets.
Enquiries:
Ronnie Mamoepa
Cell: 082 990 4853
Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
2 October 2007
