Speech delivered by the Minister of Transport, Mr Fikile Mbalula, on the occasion of the acceptance of the flag at the conclusion of the International Maritime Parallel event in Cartagena, Colombia.
Vice President of Colombia, Her Excellency Ms Marta Lucia Ramirez
Secretary-General of the IMO, Mr Kitack Lim
Vice Admiral of the DIMAR Mr. Juan Manuel Soltau
Honourable Minister of Transport of the United Arab Emirates, Dr.Abdullah Belhaif Al Nuaimi
Ambassador of Colombia to South Africa, Carlos Barahona
Your Excellencies
Distinguished delegates
Ladies and gentlemen
Me gustaría aprovechar esta oportunidad para agradecer al gobierno de la República de Colombia por haber acogido un exitoso e inspirador evento paralelo dia marítimo mundial, en esta maravillosa ciudad de Cartagena. Muchas gracias.
(I would like to take this opportunity to thank the government of the Republic of Colombia for hosting a successful and inspiring World Maritime Parallel Even, in this wonderful city of Cartagena. Thank you)
The level of organisation, the depth of the topics and the thought-provoking inputs and presentations have set the bar very high. Ours is to emulate, and hopefully better the standard set by Colombia, as the Vice President said in her opening speech. Please accept our congratulations for a job well done.
We also commend the Secretary-General of the IMO, Mr. Kitak Lim, and his committed and enthusiastic team for their sterling work, in ensuring that its partnership with the government of Colombia to host this remarkable and spectacular event is a success.
On behalf of the Government of the Republic of South Africa, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to the distinguished delegates, who placed their trust on South Africa to host the next prestigious World Maritime Day Parallel Event in 2020. We are humbled by this noble gesture and we will raise the flag of the IMO high by ensuring that our collective decisions find practical implementation in the work we do.
South Africa is pleased to announce that the 2020 World Maritime Day Parallel Event will be hosted in the beautiful City of Durban, in the Province of Kwa-Zulu Natal. We will be very grateful if you can spare your time and attend the event which will be hosted on the African soil. We assure you that you will have a great time to enjoy our vistas, the landscapes, the mountains, the rivers, clear skies, fauna and flora, warm weather and the hospitality of our people.
As a maritime nation with 3 900 kilometres of coastline which is strategically located in one of the busiest shipping routes, surrounded by three oceans on the eastern, western and southern seaboards, we are steadfast in our commitment to realise the goals and the objectives of the IMO.
Our commitment to the global maritime agenda is aligned with the IMO Strategic imperatives as well as the UN Sustainable Development Goals. These find resonance to the 2020 World Maritime Day theme: Sustainable shipping for a sustainable planet.
South Africa aspire to be the Maritime Center of Excellence in Africa by 2030, a goal enshrined in our national Comprehensive Maritime Transport Policy.
South Africa is a young democracy, celebrating 25 years since the first historic democratic elections, women empowerment and gender parity has always been central to our developmental agenda as a nation. There is an African proverb which says: if you educate a man, you educate an individual but if you educate a woman, you educate a nation. The same proverb goes for empowerment: if you empower a woman, you empower the nation.
Our government has made firm strides in placing women empowerment as a key priority. This is demonstrated by the fact that South African Cabinet is composed of 50% brilliant women Ministers and Deputy Ministers. It is our commitment that the call by the Secretary-General and fellow Ministers to keep the women empowerment agenda on the table, will find expression in the 2020 World Maritime Parallel Event in our country.
In closing, and on behalf of the government of the Republic of South African, I extend the invitation to you all to the warm city of Durban and I assure you of the best hospitality from our People. Please allow me to share a short video about South Africa.
I thank you. Muchas gracias Colombia.
