Bi-national Commission (BNC)
22 October 2006
Pretoria - South African Foreign Minister, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, will
on Monday, 23 October 2006, together with her German counterpart Foreign
Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, co-chair the 5th session of the South Africa
- Germany BNC scheduled from Monday, 23 October to Tuesday, 24 October 2006.
South African-German co-operation has grown significantly since 1994, and South
Africa regards Germany as an important and valued partner.
Minister Dlamini Zuma's participation in this BNC, being held under the
banner "Keep the Ball Rolling - Investing in Common Goals", comes within the
context of South Africa's commitment to, among others, promote North-South
co-operation in support of the African agenda through partnerships with the
Group of Eight (G-8) and the African Partnership Forum of the European Union
(EU). In this regard, Germany plays a leading role in both the G-8 and EU.
The BNC consists of six committees - Arts and Culture, Defence, Environment,
Development Co-operation (National Treasury and partner Departments), Science
and Technology and Economic. Each of these committees is motivated by the
long-term goal of achieving South Africa's domestic objectives, as outlined
through the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA)
and Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA).
Issues on the agenda of discussions between Ministers Dlamini Zuma and
Steinmeier are expected to include, among others:
* bilateral political and economic relations between both countries
* South Africa's preparations for the 2010 Soccer World Cup and South Africa -
German co-operation in this regard
* a review of developments within the EU and Africa including Germany's
respective presidencies of the G-8 and EU in 2007 with the focus on the
promotion of the African agenda
* conflict resolution and peacekeeping in Africa including Sudan, the
Democratic Republic of Congo and the Great Lakes Region
* co-operation in the multilateral arena including the United Nations (UN) with
respect to South Africa's tenure of the Non-Permanent Seat of the Security
Council 2007-2008 (Germany has expressed support for South Africa's
non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council) and the reform of the world body
and the World Trade Organisation with respect to the reform of the multilateral
trading framework
* other issues of mutual concern including Iran and the Middle East.
Bilateral Economic Relations
South Africa ranks 32nd as a source country to Germany for imports and 22nd
as an export destination. (Germany's trade with South Africa exceeds its trade
with G-8 member Canada.)
Germany is SA's largest import partner and fourth largest export partner
after Japan, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States of America
(USA).
Germany ranks with the UK and the USA among the three largest economic role
players in South Africa regarding trade, investment, finance and tourism.
Germany's investment is the fourth largest in South Africa. Approximately
450 German companies provide for nearly 70 000 jobs in SA.
Major investments by German companies include companies such as BMW,
DaimlerChrysler, Volkswagen, Siemens, Bayer and Ferrostaal.
Although South Africa is Germany's largest trading partner on the African
continent, only a very small percentage of Germany's total trade takes place in
South Africa. South African companies such as Minorco, Sappi, SASOL and ABSA
have invested in Germany.
The following figures provide an indication of bilateral trade:
Trade with Germany
Imports from Germany
2006: R30 958 449 000
2005: R49 196 559 000
Exports to Germany
2006: R13 588 557 000
2005: R21 076 405 000
South African Trade Balance (Between January and July 2006)
2006: -R17 369 892 000
2005: -R28 120 154 000
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 include
machinery (25%), motor vehicles/ parts (13,3%), electrical engineering products
and chemicals.
Manufactured or value-added products now predominate South African exports
to Germany. Several large German companies have proved their confidence in SA
through an expansion of their operations in the country, with particularly
focus on the export of manufactured goods. Examples in this regard are the
export of the C-class right-hand drive Mercedes from East London, the
Volkswagen Golf and Polo from Uitenhage and the BMW 3-series from Rosslyn near
Pretoria.
The biggest single investment in South Africa was made with the outsourcing
of Telkom's fleet management to Debis, a then subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler,
which resulted in an estimated R1 billion investment in South Africa.
The tourism sector has been a major growth area with approximately 250 000
Germans visiting the country annually since 1997. Germany is one of South
Africa's biggest source markets. South Africa has an approximate 3,5% share of
Germany's annual long-haul tourism market and it is growing continuously.
South African Tourism, in conjunction with KwaZulu-Natal Tourism and the
Western Cape Tourism Board, signed a multi-million rand Joint Marketing
Agreement with German Thomas Cook AG in 2003. The aim was to increase the
volume of overseas tourists visiting South Africa. The ground-breaking
Agreement enables 13 000 additional German travellers to escape the European
winter between November and May, flying south on twice-weekly air charters,
using 269-seat B767 aircraft operated by Thomas Cook's Condor airline.
Minister-President Wulff indicated that Lower Saxony wishes to deepen its
existing relationship with South Africa. He expressed an interest in skills
development in South Africa, within the context of JIPSA. Also, the enhancement
of SA's call centre sector and the possibility of a student exchange programme
for the training of civil engineers (especially woman students) were
discussed.
During the visit Deputy President Mlambo-Ngcuka was invited (by Mr Wulff) to
the May 2006 Industrial Energy Fair in Hanover. Unfortunately, the Deputy
President was unable to take up the invitation.
World Cup 2006 and 2010: SA/Germany co-operation
Former Chancellor Schröder, offered President Mbeki Germany's willingness
and full co-operation to share Germany's experience, which was gained when
Germany hosted the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)
Soccer World Cup earlier this year. Minister E Pahad and members of the Local
Organising Committee (LOC) have already visited Germany on several occasions
and have set up a network for co-operation. South Africa will continue visiting
Germany to gain a better analysis of the World Cup now that it is over.
Other co-operation
Germany provided direct financial support to the restructuring and change
management process of the SADC secretariat by sending German specialists to
assist.
In 1995 former President Mandela and former Chancellor Helmut Kohl agreed
that, in order to assist the South African provinces to set up effective
administrations, German Federal States should be encouraged to "twin" with
South African provinces. Agreements have already been signed between:
* Mpumalanga and North Rhine-Westphalia (very active, focusing mainly on
capacity building and human resource development (HRD)
* Gauteng and Bavaria (on sound footing, yielding concrete results in community
development, HRD, conservation and a number of "Blue IQ" commercial
ventures)
* Western Cape and Bavaria (yielding good results in HRD, economic development,
space technology, poverty reduction, conservation and community safety)
* Eastern Cape and Lower Saxony
* Limpopo province and Saxony
* KwaZulu-Natal and Baden Wuerttemberg (gaining momentum in the areas of
economic development, HRD, culture, agriculture, environment and tourism -
should start yielding fruit in the near future after relative quiet
period)
* Baden Wuerttemberg also maintains good relations with the Eastern Cape even
though no formal agreement exists (Baden-Wuerttemberg supports a consultant to
work with CIMEC, the Eastern Cape's economic development agency)
* In May 2006 a delegation from KwaZulu-Natal visited Munich and Stuttgart in
an attempt to reactivate the co-operation agreement between Baden-Wuerttemberg
and KwaZulu-Natal.
* The city-state of Berlin has developed a "special relationship" with
Johannesburg and a Memorandum of Understanding on Project-related co-operation
was signed in May 2000.
Enquiries:
Ronnie Mamoepa
Cell: 082 990 4853
Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
22 October 2006
