First BRICS Science, Technology and Innovation Ministerial Meeting
South Africa is currently hosting the First Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Ministerial Meeting, in Kleinmond in the Western Cape.
This meeting was convened in line with the eThekwini Declaration and Action Plan adopted by the BRICS leaders at the Fifth BRICS Summit in March last year.
The high-level meeting of ministers taking place today is the culmination of the process of operationalising the working mechanisms of the STI sector. The South African Minister of Science and Technology, Derek Hanekom, is extremely pleased that this important milestone has been achieved in less than a year, and sees it as a clear demonstration of the commitment to intensify cooperation in STI within the framework of BRICS.
The meeting started yesterday with a session attended by senior government officials. This morning the South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ms Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, delivered an opening address at a session attended by policy makers, key industry players and science councils.
This afternoon, the South African Director-General of Science and Technology, Dr Phil Mjwara, will chair a session at which ministers will identify and discuss areas of mutual interest and possible cooperation in STI within the BRICS framework. Potential areas of cooperation are science, technology and innovation policies; promoting innovation and technology transfer; food security and sustainable agriculture; climate change and natural disaster mitigation; new and renewable energy, and energy conservation; nanotechnology; basic research; space, aeronautics, astronomy and earth observation; medicine and biotechnology; water resources and pollution treatment; and high-tech zones or science parks and incubators.
The exchange will focus on supporting the implementation of strategic STI-related decisions taken at the BRICS Summit, as well as the high-level decisions emanating from the STI ministerial meeting so far, and on harnessing synergies in respect of STI priority directions at bilateral and multilateral levels within BRICS.
The ministerial session will also will examine the STI modalities of cooperation and priority areas set out in the BRICS Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in STI, which it is hoped will be signed later this year at the Sixth BRICS Summit in Fortaleza, Brazil.
The session should culminate in the adoption of the Cape Town Declaration.
