First and foremost, I extend my warmest welcome to Vice-Chairman Huang on your important official visit to South Africa, which underscores growing political and economic relations between our two countries.
I further wish to express my sincerest appreciation for the presence of your delegation at the BRICS Senior Officials Meeting on State-Owned Companies (SOC) that took place last week.
We are encouraged by your support of our chairmanship of this important BRICS platform.
We must continue collectively to explore the value that we can derive from the BRICS economic partnership, leveraging off each other’s strengths.
In 2010, South Africa and China entered into a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership particularly to strengthen political and economic relations as well as to improve the current trade structure between the two countries.
Today’s meeting and MOU signing is an attempt the further to give impetus to this Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
We recognise the important role that the SOC play in the economies of our respective countries as well as the potential benefit of cooperation and partnership between these SOC.
We affirm the central role performed by SOC as they are key instruments of socio-economic advancement, particularly, to implement transformative interventions to accelerate development, integration and industrialisation through provision of infrastructure, skills development, creation of new employment opportunities, improving access to basic services and reducing poverty.
Both our countries possess key SOC whose strengths can complement each other for the mutual benefit of both our countries.
It is my honour to host this historic signing of this Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) of South Africa and China’s SASAC.
The MOU is a framework that will guide our interaction and will allow us to monitor the progress we are making on the commitments we have made to each other.
At this point, I would like to take time to hasten to clarify our economic transformation policy in particular the Black Economic Empowerment policy.
The Black Economic Empowerment Policy seeks to redress the previous social, spatial and economic injustice by black and female South Africans.
It is a policy vehicle that will ultimately ensure that South Africa achieves social inclusion by eradicating poverty, income and social inequality.
We would like our international partners to understand the historic injustice suffered by black South Africans and how that has characterised our society and created a real sense of grievance, exclusion and marginalisation among black South Africans.
Added to this, and like any other developing economy, our country has experienced the movement of capital from the manufacturing to the tertiary sector, which led to de-industrialisation and associated negative externalities like the loss of jobs, failure to create sustainable and decent jobs for our people and loss of high-level skills.
This is why we have included localisation as part of our economic programme in order not only to create jobs, but to build our much-needed industrial capabilities and skills development.
We recognise that our economy will not grow and develop sustainably unless we industrialise it and create a vibrant manufacturing sector and hence we appreciate your continued support of our localisation and transformation strategy, through which we could develop a third or fourth generation technology.
I would further like to propose that we work together to address the South African Airways (SAA) slot in Beijing, as clearly articulated during the China – South Africa Binational and in other engagements.
It is our view that this route is strategic and supports trade between both countries and regions.
In this regard, and as a gesture of goodwill, we would like to request that China Air considers releasing one of its slots at the Beijing International Airport that will be convenient for SAA.
During the recent visit by the Deputy Minister of Public Enterprises, Mr. Bulelani Magwanishe, a number of engagements were held between the South African and Chinese SOC, during which discussions very fruitful outcomes emerged which must form part of the implementation plan:
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We value the strategic partnerships that will be established between China Foma (CFMC) and the South African Forestry Company Limited (SAFCOL). Both the CFMC and SAFCOL management are keen to enter into agreement and CFMC will soon visit South Africa to inspect the SAFCOL biological assets and establish a joint venture;
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The China Africa Development Fund (CADFUND) has received some proposals from South African SOC and the Chairman, Mr. Zhao Jianpin, expressed commitment to Africa and received these proposals very positively, expressing his willingness to link our SOC with the Chinese companies that have expertise in ICT, forestry and mining;
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The Broadband Infraco business propositions and its national focus on expansion of broadband services to underserviced area in South Africa and expand its foot print to African countries was accepted as a possible partnership for funding;
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The State-Owned diamond mining company, Alexkor, has been considered as another possible funding and partnership opportunity; and
- The President of China-South Rail (CSR) has committed to investing in building local industry and training young South African engineers.
We are very encouraged by these developments.
Before us we have the foundation stones for a comprehensive implementation plan.
Lastly the value of all these strategic economic relationships provides profound opportunity for our State-Owned Companies to explore joint ventures on the African continent, particularly by forging strong partnerships between South Africa – Chinese SOC and fellow African countries to invest in infrastructure projects.
As we have earlier stated it, through these partnerships we can leverage on each other’s strengths and build complementary and sustainable economic relations for Africa’s development.
Already we will be working together in Mozambican energy infrastructure projects, that is, the STE transmission lines and Hrydro-Mpanda Nkuwa, through our national energy utilities.
Further opportunities are bound to arise and with this MOU as our guiding framework, relations between our two countries are also bound to mature and soar to greater heights.
Though our actions, investing in each other’s countries and collaborating in investing in each other’s regions, we can ensure that we reverse the trade deficit between our two countries.
This will take time to address and yet it needs effort and a resolute political will.
I trust that we are entering into a long-term strategic partnership for both our countries and regions, not just an ad-hoc, short-term relationship.
The future can only be bright.
I thank you.
