Your Excellency President, Denis Sassou-Nguesso
Honourable Ministers and Deputy Ministers
Business leaders
Honourable Ambassadors
Ladies and gentlemen
Let me start by reiterating our gratitude to His Excellency President Sassou-Nguesso for accepting our invitation to undertake a State visit to the Republic of South Africa.
The two countries have longstanding political, social and economic relations. This visit allows us an opportunity to further extend these relations, and to ensure that the peoples of South Africa and Congo gain tangible socio-economic development from them.
We are supported by history in going on this path. The people of the Congo hold a prime position in the hearts and minds of the people of South Africa.
This is borne out of our recognition of the role you played, and the support you rendered to our struggle against apartheid.
At times, such support and sacrifice was done at great cost to the economic development of the people of the Congo.
That to this day, our relations remain sound and healthy, is a testimony of deep sense of this belonging and connection to each other. We thank the Congolese people in this regard.
The South Africa-Congo business forum is a very important part of the State visit, Your Excellency, which is why both of us have decided to attend this meeting.
The South African business delegation wants to explore business and investment opportunities in the Republic of Congo.
As government we fully support the development of stronger business to business linkages between the two countries, hence the agreements that we have finalised.
Our two trade ministries led economic cooperation initiatives by concluding in 2005 Bilateral Trade Agreement and the Reciprocal Promotion and Protection of Investments Agreement.
The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on Economic Cooperation yesterday will further deepen our technical, trade and industrial cooperation.
As an effort to implement the signed Bilateral Trade Agreement, there is a need to explore the possibility of establishing the provided for Joint Trade Committee between the two countries.
This Committee will be better placed to among other issues aim to analyse the status of the bilateral trade between the two countries.
We further wish to acknowledge the Memorandum of Understanding that was signed by the South African Chamber of Business and the Congolese National Chamber of Commerce and Industry in 2006.
Business from both countries must re-energise this agreement and ensure that it meets the intended economic objectives.
Your Excellency, there are various opportunities that that our business community should explore in your great country.
Whereas it is commonly accepted that the oil and petroleum sector, is the biggest revenue earner in the Congo that contribute more than 60% of the nominal GDP, agriculture and other industries, are equally important as part of diversifying the economy.
We note and applaud all efforts by the Congolese government to revitalise the country¹s agricultural sector. We welcome the long-term land lease agreement of over 200,000 hectares of idle farmland to a consortium of South African farmers.
We believe that this is one of the key areas of economic cooperation that our two countries can exploit, with clear tangible outcomes.
The outcome of this will not only improve food security for the Congo and its neighbours, but would equally build this sector and further stimulate non-oil sectors and their secondary industries.
This is also in line with our government¹s position that agriculture and rural development are primary drivers of economic development.
Mr President, we remain convinced that by fostering closer trade and investment ties, we would be able to mobilise to maximum level, our collective resources, thereby promoting substantive intra-Africa trade.
There are also potential investment opportunities that exist in the areas of transport, infrastructure development especially in road, maritime and rail construction, mining, harnessing of energy, tourism development, and information communication and technology services.
I call upon South African business to seize these opportunities and invest in the economy of the Congo.
As governments we have prepared the environment through the legal instruments we have signed.
We now expect concrete trade and investment to take place.
Your Excellency, we also fully encourage the South African private sector to ensure that as a country we fully integrate ourselves into the rest of the continent.
The logic of this is simple. We are part of Africa and our economy and our fortunes are linked to those of fellow neighbours and the rest of the continent.
Our business community is aware of this imperative and respond positively to our call.
We also urge our business community to support government’s initiatives to build lasting peace and security in the continent.
In this instance, the role of business, particularly in post-conflict reconstruction and development initiatives lie in infrastructure development, which is a necessary requirement in doing business efficiently.
We also advocate for a socially responsible way of doing business in line with the values and practices we have committed ourselves to uphold in our country’s Constitution.
These are values that seek to realise collective development.
Our bilateral relations will have deeper meaning, when we grow closer trading relations and when we grow necessary confidence to invest in each other¹s economies.
I would therefore like to recommit South Africa to the goal of further strengthening our bilateral economic relations in line with the strong bond our two countries share.
The agreements we have concluded in the past should continue to inspire our resolve to trade better with each other, and to cooperate better in sharing our expertise with each other.
Mr President, your visit could not have come at a better time than now, when our nation is at work to host on behalf of Africa the FIFA Soccer World Cup.
That we were selected to host this magnificent tournament is largely as a result of the contribution and sacrifice that our fellow Africans gave to this country, for it to be liberated from bondage of racial separation and oppression.
We therefore thank the continent for this contribution, which is why this has to be a truly African World Cup.
We reiterate our invitation for you to join us and enjoy some of the games in June or July!
Once again, thank you very much to the business community for enhancing the State visit with this interaction, which will take our economic relations forward.
We reiterate that we want to see tangible results and for the legal instruments we have signed to start bearing fruit.
It is my pleasure to join President Sassou-Nguesso today to officially opening this important forum.
I thank you.
Issued by: The Presidency
9 April 2010
Source: SAPA
