Mlambo-Ngcuka and Bolivian Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera, Presidential
Guesthouse, Pretoria
11 April 2007
We are indeed very honoured to host my Bolivian counterpart Vice President
Alvaro Garcia Linera in South Africa who is paying a working visit to South
Africa. The area on which we focused discussions is the constitutional
development process that is currently underway in Bolivia. Bolivia is, in many
ways, going through similar experiences as we did in South Africa with regard
to our constituent assembly.
This is not the first contact we have had with Bolivia in this regard. You
will be aware that we hosted President Evo Morales in January last year, a
South African delegation led by Minister Essop Pahad visited Bolivia in June
2006 in addition to the Speaker of Parliament Baleka Mbete and Minister Jeff
Radebe in 2006. We have therefore had very intense communication.
Some of the issues with which Bolivia is dealing regarding the establishment
of a constitutional state are similar to those we in South Africa faced. We
have therefore decided to make our own government and parliamentary experts and
those from the broader academic community available to the Bolivian government
to assist them in overcoming some of these challenges.
We will also invite a delegation of Bolivian experts to South Africa to meet
the broader South African community and experts during which experiences will
be shared, lessons learnt from the South African constitution building
experience those that followed. We are dealing with very strict timeframes
since the Bolivian government would like to finalise this process by the middle
of 2007.
We also had an opportunity to hear that the government of Bolivia intends to
open an Embassy in South Africa that will serve to further enhance our very
strong diplomatic relations. There is also a working relationship between our
economic ministries especially with the departments of Minerals and Energy and
Trade and Industry. We intend to strengthen these to the extent that we can
work collaboratively on issues on human resource development since Bolivia
faces the same challenges as South Africa in the areas we regard as "scarce
skills." We will also exchange experiences in how we are dealing with this
matter.
It may not be possible to have a student exchange programme due to the
language barrier but we will attempt to share our experiences in this
regard.
Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera: I am very pleased to be here in South
Africa and bring greetings from President Morales to the government of South
Africa. South Africa and Bolivia are separated by a vast distance of
approximately 9 000 kilometres but both countries are very similar in that they
seek equitable and just societies.
After 180 years, Bolivians are experiencing the challenges of integration
through the processes of democratisation. The democratic way is to choose to
establish a constitutional system that will integrate groups who have always
been excluded. Accordingly, the South African experience will be very valuable
to us in Bolivia.
President Morales did visit South Africa as a South African delegation
visited Bolivia in 2006. We are interested in discussing the concurrence of
powers at various societal levels, inter alia, national, provincial, etc. We
also want to understand how the new constitution should address issues of
wealth sharing in Bolivia including, land distribution.
Questions and answers
Question: Deputy President could you kindly elaborate on the South African
delegation that will visit Bolivia?
Answer: The administrative details of this visit must still be finalised. I
can confirm that this delegation will include parliamentarians, academics,
constitutional experts, representatives from civil society including government
officials.
Question: Vice President Garcia, (in Spanish)
Answer: The question of the redistribution of wealth is a serious one. We
want to learn from the South African experience in this regard.
Question: Vice President Garcia, you want to learn from the South African
experience in terms of wealth redistribution. Your country has just begun a
process of nationalisation of the oil and gas sector. (inaudible)
Answer: The main economic growth for Bolivia will come from oil and natural
gas reserves. (inaudible)
Question: Deputy President, were energy related issued discussed seeing that
the Minister of Minerals and Energy is present?
Answer: Yes, such issues were discussed, although this is not the first time
we have had such discussions. The Minister of Minerals and Energy has had
discussions with her Bolivian counterpart in Bolivia in this regard. We are
focusing on the exchange of experiences in the regulation of both industries,
the co-operation between both institutions and issues of capacity building.
The intention of these discussions is to ultimately strengthen economic and
trade relations. We would also want to ensure that PetroSA develops a
relationship with its counterpart in Bolivia as well as all business sectors
and small and medium enterprises developing business linkages with counterparts
in Bolivia.
Concluding remarks by Deputy President Mlambo-Ngcuka
Thank you for being here. We are indeed excited that we will be able to
consolidate relations with our cousins in Bolivia. There will be much work to
do in the forthcoming days and months, including shuttling between both
countries. This will involve not only the government but political parties who
have already established relations with Bolivia.
We will encourage the continuation of such activities.
Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
11 April 2007
Source: SAPA
