The Minister of Science and Technology told the South African Heads of Mission Conference taking place at the Department of International Relations and Cooperation in Pretoria that "science knows no borders, but helps to build international friendship and partnership, solidarity and understanding."
Addressing the gathering, Minister Pandor said scientific and technological progress was dependent on the sharing of experience, expertise and costs across borders.
"No nation today can claim to have the financial and technical resources required to harness science optimally for growth and development," the Minister added.
South Africa is looking to increase its annual gross expenditure on research and development (GERD) to 1.5 percent of GDP by 2019. Currently GERD is just over 0.8 percent.
"It's an ambitious target but one to which we are full committed in order to ensure that we achieve the objectives of the National Development Plan. Chapter 9 of the National Development Plan (NDP) emphasises the necessity to expand South Africa's science, technology and innovation outputs by increasing research and development spending by government and by encouraging industry to follow suit," explained the Minister.
The Minister said that South Africa was fortunate to have excellence in a large number of cutting-edge science and technology domains. Nanotechnology, astronomy, laser technology and high-performance computing are areas in which South Africa is punching far above its weight in the global science area. Measured by the impact of their publications in international scientific journals, South African researchers are among the most productive in the world.
The Minister's address focused on the five priority areas – or "grand challenges"– identified in South Africa's Ten-Year Innovation Plan. These were investment in biosciences for public health and food security; developing a better understanding of and mitigating the impact of global change; achieving energy security; optimally exploiting the potential of space science and technology; and studying human and social dynamics for development purposes.
The Minister also highlighted the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project, arguably the most exciting global science project of the twenty-first century, which will be co-hosted in Africa by South Africa and its eight African partner countries.
The construction of the MeerKAT, the South African-designed and funded precursor to the SKA, is on track. The MeerKAT will be a powerful instrument in its own right. Investments such as MeerKAT have started to attract some of the world's leading astronomers to South Africa, with several taking up full-time positions at South African universities. South African scientists that are part of the SKA programme recently won acclaim in the prestigious journal Nature for a new discovery of a black hole.
"The world's scientific community is keenly awaiting its completion so they can start fully using it for science in 2016," the Minister said.
The Minister urged delegates attending the conference to assist in marketing South African science and technology abroad.
"Let us excite the world about South African and African research and innovation – encouraging partnerships and investment. I have no doubt such a marketing effort would be the perfect complement for your efforts to profile South Africa as an investment destination," the Minister said.
Minister Pandor also encouraged the missions to assist the country to identify partnership opportunities in their countries of accreditation – ranging from academic cooperation and training programmes, to innovation partnerships involving the commercialisation of research and development results, and product and service development.
"We can provide you with guidance on the priority areas on which to focus – and your expert analysis of your areas of jurisdiction would be invaluable to us," added the Minister.
"You can also facilitate contact at intergovernmental level with your host governments, especially where diplomatic intervention is required to open doors or resolve delicate situations. In this regard my officials are under strict instructions always to inform the Department of International Relations and Cooperation and to call on our missions when travelling abroad," the Minister said.
