President Ramaphosa concludes working visit to Japan
President Cyril Ramaphosa has concluded a two-day working visit to Osaka, Japan, where he led the South African delegation to the G20 Summit.
The Summit was attended by Heads of State and Government of the G20 member countries, which collectively account for 85% of global economic activity and two-thirds of the world’s population. The Summit presented a platform for critical engagement and high-level cooperation on efforts to address major global economic challenges.
In the interest of advancing African development, the Leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the timely implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda. There are also enhanced roles for the World Bank, African Development Bank and International Monetary Fund to implement the Compact with Africa. This initiative will contribute to the realisation of the African Union's Agenda 2063.
Future summits will also take stock of progress in curbing illicit financial flows.
On trade and investment, the Summit committed to work towards a free, fair, non-discriminatory, transparent, predictable, stable and open market environment.
Regarding digitalisation, global leaders agreed that to harness the full potential of data, there needs to be data flow with trust, to be enabled through international policy discussions on the sharing of good practices and regulatory frameworks.
Additionally, the G20 will implement its the anti-corruption action plan for 2019-2021, which strengthens synergies among related international instruments. There is also strong will among majority of the member countries to pursue the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement's goals of dealing with Climate Change.
Ahead of the Summit, President Ramaphosa convened the standing trilateral meeting with the African Union Chair, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of the Arab Republic of Egypt and NEPAD Chair President Macky Sall of the Republic of Senegal. This discussion made it possible for these leaders to consolidated Africa's position around the Summit's agenda.
President Ramaphosa was also invited to participate in the China-Africa (South Africa, Egypt, Senegal and with the participation of the United Nations Secretary General) Leaders Meeting. The meeting exchanged views on the priorities for G20, FOCAC and Africa's development agenda.
The President also participated in the standing informal BRICS Leaders’ Meeting that was chaired by Brazil. The BRICS Leaders’ Meeting reflected on the current geo-political environment and sought collaboration and synergies among BRICS members in preparation for the G20 Leaders’ Summit.
President Ramaphosa also had numerous bilateral meetings to strengthen relations with Russia, China, Japan and Saudi Arabia and the President of the World Bank.
The President concluded his Osaka programme by engaging with business during the Japan-South Africa CEO Business Roundtable. The engagement was chaired by Minister Ebrahim Patel of Trade and Industry and included more than 20 Japanese business representatives and a South African business contingent. The event offered a unique platform to explore business opportunities and build partnerships in South Africa and Japan.
President Ramaphosa described the working visit as a success and congratulated Japan on hosting a well-organised Summit.
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