S Moloto: Til Trade and Investment Business Seminar

30 November 2006

Programme Director,
Your Excellencies, the Heads of Missions in the order of precedence,
Your Excellencies, the High Commissioners and Ambassadors,
My colleagues in the Executive Council (ExCo),
Honourable executive mayors and mayors,
Members of Limpopo Provincial Legislature,
Representatives of Department of Foreign Affairs,
Business people and captains of industry,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen:

It is our singular honour and privilege to play host to the more than 60
nations from different continents of the world who are so well represented here
in our own province, Limpopo. We convey deep and warm wishes of hospitality
from the people of South Africa and of our own province to the galaxy of the
representatives of world nations who are gathered here today in Polokwane,
Limpopo.

We assume that many of you have got missions in South Africa and therefore
are already familiar with the history of our country which, therefore, makes it
unnecessary for us to relate the vivid details of were we come from as a
nation. The likelihood is also that many of your countries have actively played
a role towards our national liberation in 1994 and continue to assist our
government in meeting the daily challenges of reconstruction and development.
We humbly plead with you to accept our hospitality and friendship on behalf of
millions of Limpopo citizens who are hopeful that your visit to our province
will yield to the desired benefits they expect from you. It is also important
that we humbly extend our gratitude to you for the immense support your
countries have given South Africans throughout the many dark days of our
liberation struggle against apartheid.

Programme Director

Our province is a warm and generous province in South Africa. It is a
peaceful, stable and secure destination for exchanging mutual friendship and
investment. At the same time it is a region that is of critical importance to
the future of not only South Africa, but indeed the entire subcontinent and the
rest of Africa. As a provincial government we have taken a long deep look at
our economy and are confident that economic development initiatives that are
currently being planned in this province will indeed have a ripple effect
across our borders into Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and beyond. This is the
reason why we call ourselves the heartland of southern Africa as our strategic
location provides easy access to South African and African markets.

Investing in Limpopo, therefore, means that you will also be contributing to
the long term stability of the southern African region and the continent. This
is in line with the objectives of the African Union (AU) and of New Partnership
for Africa's Development (NEPAD) which advocates for the creation of a better
Africa and a better world. This understanding is also in line with the stated
objectives of our Provincial Growth and Development Strategy (PGDS) which seeks
to attain regional integration amongst the countries of the South African
Development Community (SADC) region and of the continent.

Programme Director

Our PGDS has also made it possible for us to be able to understand and
appreciate the potential and critical areas for private sector investment and
involvement in our economy. Three growth sectors have been identified by the
strategy as critical for growth and development of our people. These sectors
include mining, agriculture and tourism.

We have realised that our mining sector has got significant potential for
growth and expansion and should develop into one of the primary vehicles for
creating jobs. We are home to the world's richest deposits of the platinum
group of minerals as well as vast resources of iron, copper, base minerals and
diamonds and one of the major challenges we face is to develop industries
around these minerals for local beneficiation and eventual exporting of
finished products.

There are similar opportunities for development in agriculture as we are the
country's biggest producer of tomatoes, citrus, avocadoes, mangoes and other
sub tropical fruits. To be precise, Limpopo is the food basket of South Africa,
producing 75 percent of the country's mangoes, 65 percent of its papayas, 25
percent of its citrus, bananas and litchis, 60 percent of its avocadoes, 67
percent of tomatoes and a whopping 285 000 tons of potatoes are grown here.
Other crops include coffee, nuts, guavas, a bourgeoning sisal industry, maize,
cotton, tobacco and timber in addition to staples such as sunflowers, maize,
wheat and table grapes. However, despite the abundance of these products in our
province we have often emphasised the need to shift towards agro-processing and
the development of downstream industries. Considerable opportunity exists in
the areas of processing and packaging as well as the export of beef, pork, goat
meat, chicken and eggs, as well as fruit and vegetables.

The combination of authentic African experiences, diverse indigenous
cultural heritage and sophisticated first world infrastructures and service
levels, makes Limpopo a paradise for tourism and related hospitality
investments.

One of the biggest draw cards in South Africa's provinces is the
proliferation of wild life and Limpopo is home of the world's greatest
concentration of national parks. Apart from the Kruger National Park of which
80 percent sits within our borders, there are 53 State-owned nature
conservancies which are to be commercialised with potential for local and
foreign investment in terms of ownership and concessionary activity. Some of
you might not know that we are also home to the world's largest baobab tree
which forms part of our corporate identity logo. The baobab tree is a very
important feature of Limpopo which distinguishes us from the rest of South
Africa. You will be delighted to know that the big baobab tree in the province
has been confirmed as the biggest in the world and is 39 metres wide, 24 metres
high and over 300 years old.

Limpopo is also once again fortunate to be one of the selected few South
African provinces to host the 2010 world soccer games. The provincial capital
city, Polokwane, has been awarded the FIFA World Cup 2010 host city status and
this has opened a number of opportunities for the province. The city is in the
process of constructing a world-class stadium which will be in line with the
specifications of FIFA. The provision of requisite skills or human capital and
infrastructure for water, road network, energy, telecommunications and other
services would therefore be required in abundance.

Programme Director

We remain mindful of our common desire to optimise the economic
opportunities existing amongst our nations, in a manner that will improve the
quality of life of the peoples of our respective nations. This interaction as
we understand it is principally aimed at assessing and harnessing all the
opportunities and challenges available amongst ourselves in order to maximise
the benefits for our people. We hope and trust that this interaction will
indeed live up to the expectations of the governments and people's of our
countries. We are confident that we shall emerge from this multilateral
engagement, more fortified and clearer about the way forward with regard to
various areas of diplomatic co-operation in the economy and other strategic
areas.

We wish to assure you that we place a very high premium on your visit, your
contributions and your expressions of solidarity with the people of South
Africa and of Limpopo in particular.

We are grateful for your willingness to engage with us in facilitating trade
linkages with our business people and trust that this programme will be
followed up, well into the future.

It is our belief that your visit and stay in the province will be the most
fruitful one.

I thank you!

Issued by: Office of the Premier, Limpopo Provincial Government
30 November 2006