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Opening Address at the 5th Japan - South
Africa Partnership Forum by Deputy Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Mr. Aziz Pahad, Tokyo, Japan 22nd May 2002
Mr Sugiura, Senior Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs
of Japan,
Delegates from South Africa and Japan,
On behalf of the South African delegation, I wish to
express my appreciation to the Japanese Foreign Ministry
for hosting this Fifth Partnership Forum in Tokyo.
Since the last meeting of the 4th Japan-South Africa
Partnership Forum in Pretoria, we are faced with an
entirely different international situation that has
been dictated by the dramatic events of September 11th.
The year 2001 will undoubtedly be remembered for the
terrible tragedy that occurred on September 11th. We
are now having to deal with new policies, inter alia,
"global coalition against terrorism," "you
are either with us or against us," the "axis
of evil," "clash of civilizations," etc.
Also, the debate between unilateralism and multilateralism
is growing more pronounced.
Protectionism in some of the developed countries is
increasing eg. Steel tariffs in the USA; massive agricultural
subsidies eg. the OECD Agricultural subsidy of US$3
billion a year.
Also, the WTO Meeting in Doha opens up a second round
of discussions that would focus on the developmental
agenda, to ensure the interests of the South.
All this impacts fundamentally on international relations;
in this Partnership Forum, we must together analyse
these trends and determine how we can influence them
positively.
Notwithstanding the fundamental changes to international
relations after 11th September 2001, the global challenges
affecting humanity are precisely the same as those before
11th September 2001! If anything, these challenges have
taken on a new urgency. There is growing consensus internationally
that to defeat terrorism, a holistic approach must be
adopted in dealing with the root causes thereof.
These are, inter alia:
Eradication of poverty, communicable and pandemic diseases;
Ensuring sustainable development;
Combating the negative consequences of globalisation;
Preventing global warming;
Containing the threats to global peace and security,
amongst others, the current conflict in the Middle East;
Eradicating racism, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance;
Combating transnational crime and terrorism.
The Japanese initiative of human security, in essence,
gives concrete expression to this reality. We must ensure
that this initiative succeeds.
Sadly, different perspectives of the current global
situation are emerging, differing interpretations reflecting
two different basic agendas – the development agenda
and the security agenda. Among countries of the South
there is a perception that some countries of the developed
North are giving priority to the security agenda to
the detriment of the development agenda, thus failing
to see the inter-connectivity between security and development.
Chairperson,
Today, globalisation continues to open up tremendous
opportunities but also poses many difficulties and challenges.
The Millenium Declaration stated, "… while
globalisation offers great opportunities, at present
its benefits are very unevenly shared, while its costs
are unevenly distributed … only through broad and
sustained efforts to create a shared future, based upon
our common humanity in all its diversity, can globalisation
be made fully inclusive and equitable…"
This underscores the growing reality that: "if
a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it
cannot save the few who are rich," and secondly,
development that perpetuates today’s inequalities
is neither sustainable nor worth sustaining.
Failure to appreciate this is resulting in the growing
alienation of many and the disillusionment with the
manner in which governments conduct their business,
as well as reaction to the existing global environment.
For example, in Europe, we have watched with grave concern
the rise of right wing extremism. In the Asian region,
although the release of Ang Su Chi is a positive development,
the potential for war between India and Pakistan, both
of which are nuclear powers, grows daily. This situation
has serious implications for everyone.
In the Middle East, the security situation has deteriorated
sharply. Events such as Jenin, and Israeli impunity
vis-à-vis UN Security Council Resolutions, have
very serious consequences for the United Nations and
future peace in the region and globally.
In Africa itself, we are still faced with ongoing areas
of conflict and instability, these include Angola, the
DRC, Burundi, Somalia and Sudan. The crisis situation
in Zimbabwe also requires our greater scrutiny.
Yet, on all these fronts there has been important developments
and these issues are on the agenda for discussions.
This then is the context against which we hold the
5th Partnership Forum meeting.
The year 2001 proved to be an important year in relations
between our two countries. The historic visit by former
Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori to South Africa in January
2001 and the State Visit by President Thabo Mbeki in
October 2001 further strengthened relations between
our two countries and focussed attention on Africa’s
renewal, amid our joint commitment to achieve a world
order based on peace, stability, prosperity and equality.
This Forum is therefore taking place at an appropriate
time to discuss actions to implement the commitments
and decisions taken by our leaders during 2001. It allows
us to re-affirm our partnership and to address issues
of mutual concern.
The Agenda before us provides an opportunity to deliberate
on a number of wide-ranging issues.
Bilaterally
In the past decade, Japan has remained South Africa’s
most important commercial partner in Asia, and has consistently
ranked as either South Africa’s third or fourth
most important trade partner internationally. South
Africa values foreign direct investment from Japan.
During the past six years, FDI in excess of US$ 500
million has been made, predominantly in the metals,
minerals and automotive sectors. Promising new and significant
investments are in the pipeline. The proposed visit
to South Africa by a Keidanren delegation later this
year will further promote trade and investment opportunities
between our two countries.
The establishment of the Japan-South Africa Business
Forum will undoubtedly make a major contribution to
our economic relations.
We are also happy to note the considerable ODA funding
Japan has made available to South Africa. On the occasion
of the inauguration of President Mbeki in June 1999,
Japan announced a second ODA package for South Africa
in the amount of US$ 1. 5 billion dollars for socio-economic
projects largely targeted at the previously disadvantaged
in South Africa. Japan also actively encourages human
resource development. We wish to thank the Japanese
Government for the assistance provided, mainly through
JICA, to train South Africans in various fields, including
health, education and local government.
Japan’s commitment to development assistance in
the fields of ICT has been welcomed by developing nations,
including South Africa.
The digital divide is exacerbating the divide between
rich and poor nations. This divide prevents Africa from
fully participating in the fast moving process of globalisation.
We wish to expand cooperation with Japan to facilitate
IT dissemination throughout Africa. South Africa’s
development of e-strategies involve electronic communications
and transaction laws, youth and ICT, universal access,
the historically disadvantaged, human resource development
and the development of SMMEs.
The Okinawa Initiative in regard to IT development
(US$ 15 billion) will make an important contribution
to bridging the digital divide.
Negotiations are taking place to formalise the legal
framework for science and technology cooperation between
our two countries.
Taking into account South Africa’s excellence
in research and development, we believe that both countries
will benefit from this arrangement.
We are also happy with our growing partnership in the
field of health. In view of the high level of HIV/AIDS
in sub-Saharan Africa, it has now become crucial to
implement workable solutions in this region to prevent
the spread of this and other infectious diseases.
In this regard we continue to work within a broad framework
and are intensifying and expanding the HIV/AIDS Strategic
Plan for South Africa 2000-2005. Total funding in 2002/2003
amounts to over R1 billion, three times more than the
year 2001/2002.
We are also improving the programme of home-based care.
The budget allocation for home-based care and community-based
care increased from R25.5 million in 2001/2002 to R94.5
million this fiscal year, to R138 million in 2004/2005.
The World Health Organisation has rated SA’s HIV/AIDS
programme among the best in the world.
South Africa welcomed the Okinawa Initiative on Infectious
Diseases. In this regard, we proposed two projects in
the field of HIV/AIDS prevention, and three proposals
in the field of emerging and re-emerging diseases.
Since we value the increasing cooperation with Japan
in health development projects, we would welcome a greater
understanding of the inter-relationship between projects
submitted by South Africa in terms of the Okinawa Initiative
and those submitted under the 1999 ODA package.
We are eager to discuss these issues with yourselves
during this Forum
Based on the growing acceptance that there will be
no prosperity or stability in the world unless the problems
of Africa are addressed, there is a greater need to
restructure the relations between Africa and the global
community into a partnership ensuring Africa’s
ownership of its developmental agenda.
African leaders have accepted their responsibilities
to deal with our under-development.
In the context of high levels of indebtedness, increasing
poverty margins, epidemics and pandemics, sustainable
socio-economic development on the continent is clearly
of crucial importance.
The NEPAD programme was developed to address these
issues. This programme will focus on meeting the basic
needs of people with regard to socio-economic development,
achieving peace, security and stability, and the protection
of human rights, democracy, good governance and the
rule of law.
The implementation of NEPAD is the greatest challenge
facing the African continent. NEPAD is an African Programme
adopted by the OAU Summit in Lusaka in July 2001. It
is a vision and a programme by - and for Africans to
be implemented by Africans, in partnership with the
developed world.
This Programme:
Will be steered by a 15 person Implementation Committee
NEPAD will not be steered according to conditions imposed
by the developed world
The Abuja Implementation Committee recommendations of
good governance – politically and economically
– will be taken into account
Conflict resolution is central to the successful implementation
of NEPAD
The utilisation of debt relief resources will be ploughed
into development, although new resources are essential
for the implementation of this Programme initially
Civil society partnerships will be essential to the
success of NEPAD
Sub-regional groupings like SADC and ECOWAS will serve
as the foundation of the long-term success of NEPAD.
The NEPAD Implementation Committee of Heads of State
and Government, at their meeting in Abuja, Nigeria,
on 26th March 2002, adopted the Draft Report on Good
Governance and Democracy, as well as an African Peer
Review Mechanism (ARPM).
The Draft Report on Good Governance and Democracy spells
out in detail commitments and obligations such as: strengthening
of the democratic process, promotion of good governance,
protection of human rights, press freedom and enhancing
institutional capacity.
New initiatives worth underscoring are:
The establishment of a portfolio, in the AU, of a Commissioner
to be responsible for Democracy, Human Rights and Good
Governance;
Expansion of the OAU position on Unconstitutional Changes
of Government by expanding the yellow/red card-principle
to include patently undemocratic and unconstitutional
behaviour, as well as gross violations of human rights
by governments in power;
Examining of a series of reforms to improve the effectiveness
of the Charter system, including amendments to the Charter
and strengthening the Commission and the Court of Human
and People’s Rights;
Establishing an effective African Peer Review Mechanism
(ARPM)
The ARPM is designed, owned and managed by Africans
so as to demonstrate that African leaders are fully
aware of their responsibilities and obligations to their
peoples and are genuinely prepared to engage and relate
to the international community on the basis of mutual
respect.
The ARPM aims to:
Enhance African ownership of its development agenda;
Identify, evaluate and disseminate best practices;
Monitor progress towards agreed goals;
Use peer review to enhance adoption and implementation
of best practice;
Ensure that policy is based on best current knowledge
and practices;
Identify deficiencies and capacity gaps and recommend
approaches to addressing these issues.
Each NEPAD participating country is expected to define
and clear time-bound programme of action for meeting
the said commitments, obligations and actions. Once
a Government has pledged to these commitments, a concomitant
is that the state in question is to be reviewed every
three years. Upon receipt of country reports, the Heads
of State and Government of participating states could
consider a number of actions at sub-regional and/or
regional level, inter alia: using the yellow/red card
approach currently utilised by the OAU. The Heads of
State will decide on appropriate measures on a case-by-case
basis. Country reports and the Heads of State findings
are to be made public.
Conversely, committed states should be assisted to overcome
deficiencies and capacity constraints in meeting their
commitments and obligations. The monitoring and review
process could be utilised to identify these deficiencies
and limitations and to assist in securing the necessary
resources to overcome them. Incentives (political, social
and economic) must be created for emerging democracies
that are committed to maintaining and enhancing their
achievements. It is necessary to support good leadership
on the continent. Good governance, political and economic,
demands appropriate conditions, especially eradication
of poverty and underdevelopment. This requires, inter
alia, support in the form of increased market access,
debt relief, increased flow of investment and ODA, removal
of agricultural subsidies in OECD countries (US$ 360
billion a year), technological transfer and bridging
the IT gap.
It is proposed that members of the APRM team, as well
as their terms of reference, be recommended by the Council
of Ministers for the approval by Heads of State and
Government Implementation Committee. Such an approved
team would comprise of an eminent African personality
and nominees of the envisaged African Commission for
Human Rights, Peace and Security Council and the Pan-African
Parliament.
At the Abuja meeting the NEPAD Implementation Committee
also approved eight Draft Codes and Standards for Economic
and Corporate Governance for Africa. These are:
Code of Good Practices on Transparency in Monetary
and Financial Policies;
Good of Good Practices on Fiscal Transparency;
Best practices for Budget Transparency;
Guidelines for Public Debt Management;
Principles of Corporate Governance (business ethics);
International Accounting Standards;
International Standards on Auditing; and the
Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision.
The corporate world in beginning to show a keen interest
in NEPAD as evidenced by the attendance of about 900
business people at the NEPAD Financing for Developing
Conference in Dakar, Senegal earlier this year. Corporate
leaders included representatives from Microsoft, Hewlett
Packard, IBM, Chevron, Shell, Petronas, Coca-Cola and
Eskom. NEPAD will also be the main topic of discussion
between governments of Southern Africa and the private
sector at the upcoming World Economic Forum Southern
African Summit to be held in South Africa later this
year.
South Africa’s interaction with the continent must
also primarily be through its membership of SADC. Given
the political and economic instability in certain SADC
member countries, some "experts" have suggested
that South Africa should "ring-fence" itself
from the rest of the region. This can never be a policy
option for the Government of South Africa. Instead of
this view, South Africa’s foreign policy is a principled
one based on the view that South Africa cannot be an
island of prosperity in a sea of poverty and that the
concept of regionalism is becoming increasingly important
in order to compete globally.
Broadly, South Africa’s vision for the Southern
African region is one of the highest possible degree
of economic co-operation, mutual assistance and joint
planning of regional development initiatives, leading
to integration consistent with socio-economic, environmental
and political realities.
SADC, through various protocols, has laid the basis
on which regional planning and development in Southern
Africa should be pursued. At the SADC Summit held in
Blantyre, Malawi in August 2001, attention focussed
on the implementation of the restructuring of the operations
of the SADC institutions. This restructuring is expected
to give the organisation the institutional framework
required to support NEPAD. The decision making within
the organisation has also been re-examined with proposals
that decision making operate on a troika basis. This
will undoubtedly create better conditions for the consolidation
of democracy in our region.
SADC also provides the desired instrument by means of
which member States should move towards economic integration.
Thus, SADC, together with the Economic Community of
West African States (ECOWAS), the Arab Magreb Union
(AMU), Economic Community of Central African States
(ECCAS) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern
Africa (COMESA) form the five Regional Economic Communities
(RECs) recognised as building blocks of the African
Community.
NEPAD is not an event, but a process that will take
many years to reach fruition. There will be tremendous
challenges; the tasks are enormous especially when conditions
on the Continent are taken into account – underdevelopment,
the lack of capacity, poverty, conflict.
However, there is no alternative to the success of NEPAD;
NEPAD must succeed or the Continent will remain marginalized
and underdeveloped. The success of NEPAD is crucial
to the reality of African reconstruction and renewal.
Japan’s commitment to Africa’s renewal was
formally announced during Prime Minister Mori’s
visit. In a keynote address, Mr Mori emphasised Japan’s
commitment to Africa’s development and to global
peace and security. This policy was adopted by the present
Government of Prime Minister Koizumi. Foreign Minister
Kawaguchi, in her first major foreign speech, extensively
dealt with Africa’s development. We in Africa have,
with excitement and anticipation, taken note of Ms Kawaguchi’s
statement and noted that she proposed to designate the
period leading up to the TICAD III Summit in 2003 as
the "Year for Soaring Cooperation with Africa."
We wish to invite her to visit South Africa and Africa
to, as in her own words, "frankly exchange opinions"
on Africa’s renewal.
We welcome and appreciate the enthusiastic way in which
Japan has promoted dialogue on NEPAD, particularly in
the form of the recent TICAD Ministerial Level Meeting
hosted in Tokyo. The meeting acknowledged African ownership
of the development process, and the partnership between
Africa and its development partners to support African
renewal. NEPAD’s alignment with TICAD was formally
acknowledged at this meeting. The TICAD III Summit Meeting
planned for 2003 will also no doubt provide an opportunity
to brief the international community on the progress
made with the implementation of NEPAD.
We look forward to the support of Japan at the G-8 Summit
in Kananakis in June later this year.
The reform of African institutions is central to meeting
the challenges of Africa’s recovery. The AU is
a concrete demonstration of the continuation of Africa’s
own resolve to deal with the legacy of its past and
to address the consequences of underdevelopment, focussing
on meeting the human and basic needs of the African
peoples.
At its formation, the OAU structured itself to fight
for decolonisation of the continent and its structures
were geared towards building solidarity and resistance
among African nations. The OAU served the continent
well and its task has almost been completed. However,
the challenges posed by the 21st Century require the
restructuring of the OAU into the AU.
New structures within the AU will be established to
deal with:
Conflict prevention, management and resolution
The AU will place particular emphasis on conflict prevention,
management and resolution and instruments in this regard
are being strengthened. According to initial plans,
the Central Organ of the Mechanism on Conflict Prevention,
Management and Resolution will be changed to an AU Peace
and Security Council (PSC), comprising 15 member states.
It is envisaged that membership of the PSC should be
based on a set of agreed criteria which will be predicated
on the capacity and interest of a country to assume
and discharge the responsibilities, and include commitment
to uphold the principals enshrined in the Constitutive
Act of the African Union.
It is proposed by the PSC should be in permanent session
for it to address the daily security challenges facing
the continent. Moreover, the PSC should meet at the
level of Permanent Representatives, Ministers and Heads
of State and Government respectively. The chairmanship
of the PSC should be delinked from the Chairmanship
of the AU. The questions of permanent membership and
veto rights for such members are, however, still under
discussion. It is foreseen that there should be a close
working relationship between the PSC and the UN, on
one hand, and sub-regional mechanisms, on the other.
Discussions and consultations are also taking place
on the establishment of a Council of the Wise, comprising
highly respected African personalities, to complement
the efforts of the envisaged AU Peace and Security Council;
Human rights, democracy, good governance, electoral
institutions;
Energy, transport, communications, infrastructure and
tourism;
Health, population, migration, labour, social affairs
and culture;
Education, youth, human resources, science and technology;
Trade, industry, customs and immigration matters;
Rural economy, agriculture, environment and natural
resources;
Economic, monetary and financial policies of the AU,
private sector, investment and resource mobilisation.
South Africa is honoured to be hosting the Inauguration
Summit of the AU in South Africa in July 2002. As Chair,
South Africa will seek to play a constructive role to
ensure that the core structures of the AU commence functioning
smoothly, namely the Assembly of Heads of State and
Government, the Executive Council, the Permanent Representative
Committee of Ambassadors and the Commission, other structures
of the AU which will be established later. The first
year of the AU is crucial for us to set the pace and
direction of the organisation for subsequent year.
Chairperson
This year, South Africa will host the World Summit on
Sustainable Development in Johannesburg from 26th August
to 4th September. The objective of the WSSD is to reinvigorate
political commitment at the highest level, involving
many Heads of State and Government, for the further
implementation of Agenda 21 and other existing international
sustainable development targets.
The central objective for developing countries, is the
eradication of poverty through the implementation of
a comprehensive action orientated programme for sustainable
development, with clear time frames and supporting resources.
We welcome Japan’s participation at the highest
level at this meeting, and we trust that will be able
to cooperate to achieve discernible results and a successful
outcome of this meeting.
We are also aware that Japan is preparing to host the
3rd World Water Forum in 2003. These are two major events
that will focus world attention on the environment and
related issues, especially poverty alleviation and underdevelopment.
CONCLUSION
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi stated that, "The
problem of Africa is one of the most important issues
of our global foreign policy."
The Joint-Communique, the "Japan-South Africa Partnership
in the New Century," issued on 2nd October 2001,
provides a framework for both bilateral and multilateral
interaction, and lends additional weight to the growing
rapport between Japan and South Africa, the commonalities
in the relationship as well as articulating issues important
to the African continent.
This year we celebrate the 10th Anniversary of bilateral
relations between our two countries. We should use the
moment to encourage cultural and educational exchange
between our two countries. South Africa will also participate,
hopefully with much success, in the World Cup Football
tournament to be co-hosted by Japan and South Korea.
Again, this provides the opportunity to promote not
only sports exchanges, but also tourism.
Since the normalisation of our bilateral relations in
1992, Japan has pointed out that both South Africa and
Japan are unique within their regional geographic contexts,
and that both are the driving economic forces in their
respective regions. In this regard, South Africa, in
the intricate network of international relations, also
regards Japan as a significant and strategic partner.
We believe that the objective of this meeting is to
discuss these opportunities and formulate action plans
to transform our ideas into actions. We are confident
that the State and official visits and people-to-people
contact, and the general agreement concerning issues
of bilateral and multilateral interest have added significant
momentum to relations. We are eagerly awaiting the visit
of their Majesties, the Emperor and Empress to South
Africa. The institutional framework we have created
will also ensure that progress in achieving common goals
may be assessed at regular intervals.
I thank you.
SA-JAPAN INVESTMENTS FROM 1 April 1994 to 21 May 2002
Year Sector Company Investment
1994 ICT Marubeni Equity in SA ICT company
1994 Metals Sumitomo Corporation Manganese
1994 Mining Mitsubishi/Matsushita Natural stone extraction
1994 Auto Mitsubishi Corporation Colt pick-up assembly
1994 Metals Itochu Corporation Ferromanganese
1995 Metals Tosoh Corporation Manganese
1995 Auto Mitsui & Co., Ltd Equity in Automakers
1995 Auto Nissan Diesel Motor Co., Equity in Automakers
1995 Metals Showa Denko/Marubeni Ferrochrome
1995 Metals Mitsui & Co., Ltd Ferrochrome
1995 Metals Nittetsu Shoji Ferrochrome
1996 ICT Mitsubishi Electric Corp Switchgear, air conditioning
1996 ICT Sony Sales & distribution
1996 Metals Mitsui/Japan Metals & Chem. Manganese
and ferroalloys
1996 Metals Nissho Iwai/Nisshin Seiko Ferroalloys
1996 Metals Sumitomo/Mizushima Ferromanganese
1996 Auto Toyota Motor Corporation Equity in Toyota
SA
1996 Auto Bridgestone Corporation Purchase of Fedstone
1996 Textiles Sanko Keito/Nagawa Mohair yarn production
1997 Metals Nittetsu Shoji Ferrochrome
1997 Mining Komatsu/Itochu Corp Mining equipment &
services
1997 Auto Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. Equity in Automakers
1997 Auto SM-Cyclo Power Transmission
1997 ICT Sanyo Sales & distribution
1998 ICT Daikin Industries Co., Ltd Air conditioning
1999 Auto Nihon Gaishi [NGK] Catalytic converters
1999 Metals Itochu Corporation Equity in ferrochrome
maker
1999 Auto Nissan Motor Co., Ltd Equity in Automakers
2000 Auto Cataler Corporation Catalytic Converters
2000 Auto Calsonic-Kansei Automotive components
2001 Chemicals Sumitomo Chemical Corp Ortho-Creosol-Novolac
2001 Auto Toyota Motor Corporation Equity purchase
in TSA
2001 Auto Mitsui & Co., Ltd Capitalizing an autonomous
branch
2001 Chemicals Mitsubishi Chemical Acrylic acids &
acrylates
2002 Auto Mitsui/Nippon Denko Ferrovanadium
2002 Auto Bridgestone Expansion of SA plants
2002 Auto Araco Corporation Vehicle interiors &
seats
TOTAL INVESTED [or commitment announced publicly] TO
31 March 2002
R6,008-million
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