The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr. Rob Davies will attend the fifth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) which will be held in Beijing, China from 19 to 20 July 2012. Ministers from more than fifty African countries are expected to attend.
FOCAC is a platform established by China and African countries in Beijing in 2000 for collective consultation and dialogue and a cooperation mechanism between the developing countries, which falls into the category of South-South cooperation.
Its purpose is to strengthen consultation and cooperation. It also seeks to promote both political dialogue and economic cooperation and trade, with a view to achieving mutual reinforcement and common development.
The conference, which takes place every three years, will review the implementation of follow-up activities from the fourth ministerial conference of the FOCAC which was held in Egypt in 2009, as well as examine and adopt the Beijing Declaration and Beijing Action Plan for 2013-2015 to define new cooperative programmes to be undertaken over the next three years.
"The focus of this year's conference will be on building on past achievements and opening up new prospects for the new type of China-Africa strategic partnership. The conference is particularly significant for us as South Africa will take over as African co-chair from Egypt for the next three years. It also signals the beginning of the second decade of China-Africa cooperation.
"From the broader continental perspective, this strategic partnership has resulted in a substantial increase in trade between Africa-China amounting to approximately $US166 billion in 2011 and has further supported Africa's infrastructure and industrial development imperatives," said Minister Davies.
Minister Davies added that China, which has become a key development investor and donor in Africa, had also undertaken to support Africa’s regional integration programmes and initiatives to fast track Africa's economic growth and sustainable development in line with the continent's priorities.
About twenty South African businesspeople will also travel to China to participate in the fourth China-African Business Forum that is taking place on the sidelines of FOCAC. The focus of South Africa’s participation in the forum is on promoting South African exports and investment in key sectors including capital equipment, chemicals, metals and mining, financial services, agro-processing, energy, ICT, health and pharmaceuticals.
The purpose of the forum is to promote joint collaboration between Chinese and African entrepreneurs and increased development of China-Africa economic and trade cooperation. It is attended by both Chinese and African State leaders, government officials, entrepreneurs and business associations. The forum includes business-to-business meetings with Chinese entrepreneurs from various industries in order to necessitate collaboration on potential investment and trade opportunities.
Enquiries:
Sidwell Medupe, Departmental Spokesperson
Tel: 012 394 1650
Cell: 079 492 1774
E-mail: MSMedupe@thedti.gov.za
