Your Excellency, Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Dr Guido Westerwelle
Ministers and Deputy Ministers
Honourable Members of Parliament
Members of the Diplomatic Corp
Senior government officials
Distinguished guests and
Ladies and gentlemen
Your Excellency, it is a great pleasure to welcome you and the distinguished members of your delegation to our country for the sixth meeting of the South Africa-Germany Binational Commission (BNC).
I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you personally, Dr Westerwelle, on your appointment as Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor of the German Federal Republic.
I also use this platform to commend the sterling work done by your predecessor, Mr Steinmeier, who co-chaired the 5th Binational Commission in 2006 with our former Foreign Affairs Minister, Dr Dlamini Zuma.
Allow me to make a special mention of the fact that this sixth BNC is due to mandate the formation of a seventh committee, namely Labour. We welcome this important step forward in the work of the BNC and in our bilateral relations.
Ladies and gentlemen,
This morning His Excellency and I had an opportunity to discuss matters of mutual interest, and I am glad to say in the short time that I have spent with him we have developed a good working relationship.
The Binational Commission is of central importance to our bilateral relations and I am pleased to note the fine work carried out by the six committees. We look forward to receiving their detailed reports this morning.
Political relations between South Africa and Germany remain exceptionally cordial and continue to develop at all levels, namely, in terms of trilateral cooperation and in regional and multilateral contexts.
Our countries share common values of democracy, respect for human rights and social justice, and we continue to build our good relations based on these principles.
Distinguished guests,
Bilateral trade between South Africa and Germany continue to show strong and sustained growth. Germany remained our largest import partner in 2008 and our third largest export market.
South African exports to Germany grew from R35 billion in 2007 to R47 billion in 2008, while imports grew from R66 billion in 2007 to R82 billion in 2008.
Initial figures for 2008 suggest that this strong growth trend is set to continue. This is a very pleasing development.
Your Excellency,
Germany has shown commendable commitment in supporting South Africa in its preparations to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
It is therefore an honour to express our gratitude for the readiness with which your country shared its experience of hosting the 2006 World Cup, adding value to this historic moment in Africa of hosting the event for the first time in football history.
In conclusion, we all look forward to a very successful feedback from the committees which have been interacting in the last few days.
We wish you Dr Westerwelle and your delegation the most productive and warm stay at this southern tip of our dear continent.
I thank you.
Issued by: The Presidency
9 April 2010
