Deputy President to consolidate relations in Australasia
Pretoria
- South African Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, supported by Deputy Foreign
Minister Aziz Pahad will pay an official visit to Australia and New Zealand from
16-21 October 2006 to strengthen political, economic, cultural and trade links
with both countries.
Deputy President Mlambo-Ngcuka will hold discussions
with her counterparts Deputy Prime Ministers Mark Vaile in Australia and Michael
Cullen in New Zealand. During the visit, Deputy President Mlambo-Ngcuka is expected
to pay courtesy calls on both Prime Minister Howard in Canberra and Prime Minister
Helen Clark in New Zealand.
Deputy President Mlambo-Ngcuka visit to the
region comes within the context of promoting South Africa¡¯s Accelerated
and Shared Growth Initiative (AsgiSA) and the Joint Initiative for Priority Skills
Acquisition (JIPSA) programmes with a view to a faster and shared economic growth
in SA whilst strengthening and consolidating political and economic relations
with the two countries.
In this regard, Deputy President Mlambo-Ngcuka
will also during the visit explore opportunities for partnerships between South
Africa and two countries with a view to Infrastructure development; sector investment
(or industrial) strategies; skills and education initiatives; second economy interventions;
macro-economic issues; and public administration issues.
In addition, the
visit will also afford the Deputy President with an opportunity to interact with
other key political, economic and trade role-players.
Deputy President's
visit to Australia also takes place against the background of the scheduled session
of the SA ¨C Australia Joint Ministerial Commission on the 18th of October,
which will be co-chaired by Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Mandisi Mpahlwa
and his Australian counterpart, Minister Warren Truss.
Deputy President
Mlambo-Ngcuka is expected to return to South Africa on Saturday 21 October 2006.
Bilateral
Economic Relations
Australia
South Africa's economic relations with
Australia are excellent. Australia is South Africa's third largest trading partner
in Asia, after Japan and the People's Republic of China (PRC), and seventh largest
trading partner globally. South Africa is Australia's biggest trading partner
on the African continent. Fifty percent of Australian exports to Africa are earmarked
for South Africa. Similarities in sectors such as the wine industry, mining technology
and equipment, and automotive components, to name but a few, give rise to numerous
joint venture/bilateral trade opportunities.
South Africa is Australia's
19th largest trading partner and is by far Australia's largest and most dynamic
market in Africa. Australian exports to South Africa were mainly coal, crude petroleum
and nickel; and South African exports to Australia were, notably passenger motor
vehicles (mostly BMW 3 Series vehicles) worth $A554 million, as well as furniture,
pig iron, paper and textile products.
Two-way investment flows between
Australia and South Africa have expanded since the demise of the apartheid system.
South Africa dominates stocks of African investment into Australia (currently
the 17th largest foreign investor - up from 23rd in 1993-1994). Australian investment
in South Africa has also increased - mainly in mining, mining equipment, agriculture,
agribusiness and infrastructure and services and trade - and dominates Australian
investment into Africa
Development Co-Operation
Even though Asia
and the Pacific Islands constitute Australia's foreign policy priority, it is
also investing substantial amounts of money into the African region, by means
of foreign direct investments as well as overseas development assistance (ODA).
South Africa receives priority when it comes to development co-operation and assistance
with Australia providing approximately R480 million in development assistance
to South Africa since 1994.
Development co-operation between South Africa
and Australia is manifested in a bilateral strategic programme, which focuses
Australian assistance more tightly on South Africa and Mozambique in Southern
Africa, with Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda in East Africa, benefiting from, international
and NGO programmes.
Trade Statistics In Rand Value
Trade with Australia
Year
2003
2004
2005
SA
Exports
R 5,723,886,000
R
7,157,620,000
R 9,704,431,000
SA
Imports
R 6,112,773,000
R
7,247,278,000
R 7,353,296,000
Balance
R -388,887,000
R
-89,658,000
R 2,351,135,000
Total
Trade
R 11,836,659,000
R
14,404,898,000
R 17,057,727,000
New
Zealand
South Africa is New Zealand's primary market in sub-Saharan Africa,
given its unique combination of a first-world economic infrastructure and large
emerging market economy. The gradual opening of the South African economy to international
competition and the stable and well managed political and macro-economic environment,
is viewed as offering potential investors a profitable base from which to launch
their Southern Africa operations.
Since 1990, bilateral trade has increased
nine-fold to the point where South Africa is currently New Zealand's 33rd most
important export market and 18th most important source of visitors. In 2004, New
Zealand exported goods to the value of $101.7 million to South Africa, and purchased
$129.2 million worth of South African products.
The main exports are milk
and cream, cheese, curd and mutton. The major import is wine.
As a consequence
of the developing dairy product market in Southern African countries, the New
Zealand Dairy Board opened an office in Johannesburg in 1992. New Zealand Trade
and Enterprise (NZTE) has representation in Johannesburg. A New Zealand-South
Africa Business Council has been established in New Zealand to promote trade and
economic linkages with South Africa.
Trade Statistics In Rand Value
Trade
with New Zealand
Year
2003
2004
2005
SA
Exports
R 432,261,000
R
644,840,000
R 661,002,000
SA
Imports
R 486,602,000
R
545,102,000
R 723,496,000
Balance
R -54,341,000
R
99,738,000
R 62,494,000
Total
Trade
R 918,863,000
R
1,189,942,000
R 1,384,498,000
Official
Development Assistance (ODA)
ODA programme funding is currently directed
to NGOs in Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique through UN agencies. In 2004, an amount
of NZ$420 million was channelled to Southern African countries through multilateral
institutions. South Africa remained the key focus and recipient of New Zealand
ODA in Africa. During the past five (5) years, an annual amount of NZ$1.65 million
has been committed to HIV/AIDS community awareness activities and on education
programmes in KwaZulu- Natal and the Eastern Cape. A further focus of engagement
has targeted the exchange of professional skills and knowledge in such areas as
town planning, land disputes and early education learning programmes.
Issued
by Ronnie Mamoepa on 082 990 4853
Department of Foreign Affairs Private
Bag X152 Pretoria 0001
