|
Remarks by Dr NC Dlamini Zuma, Minister
of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of South Africa on
the Occasion of the Opening of Ceremony of the 4th Session
of the South Africa-Algeria Binational Commission, 5
October 2004, Tshwane
Your Excellency, President TM Mbeki,
Your Excellency, President Abdel Aziz Bouteflika,
Honourable Ministers,
Distinguished Delegates,
Business Leaders from both South Africa and Algeria,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is my honour and privilege to welcome you to this,
the 4th session of the South Africa-Algeria Binational
Commission (BNC). I would like to extend a special word
of welcome to our dear Sisters and Brothers from Algeria,
and express the hope that they will have a fruitful
stay in the city of Tshwane.
This 4th session of the BNC takes place on the occasion
of the 50th anniversary of the Algerian Revolution,
and the 10th anniversary of South Africa's Freedom and
Democracy. The heroic struggle waged by gallant peoples
of Algeria was one of the pioneering and historic revolutions,
which contributed to the defeat of colonialism. The
values, which informed your struggle, namely, freedom,
liberty, and equality are similar to those that bound
the peoples of South Africa and their quest to liquidate
the Apartheid system. The solidarity that exists between
our peoples is based on our common history of struggle.
Today, as free nations, we face similar challenges,
challenges of fighting poverty and underdevelopment
in a world that is increasingly inequitable.
Our common history and destiny informs our approach
to the challenges facing our Continent and the world
in general. Both our countries are working towards a
peaceful, stable, secure and prosperous Africa that
should take its rightful place in global affairs. This
we do because we realize that the world we leave in
is an increasingly integrated one, which requires us
to act in concert in order to derive the maximum benefit
for our peoples, indeed the peoples of the world.
This session of the BNC provides us an opportunity
to assess progress since the last session that was held
in Algeria in 2002. In this regard, it is gratifying
to note that there has been a high number of exchange
visits by Ministers, officials and experts from our
two countries.
The presence of business leaders from both countries
offer us an opportunity to deepen and expand trade and
investment. All the more so because of our commitment
to the promotion of intra-Africa trade and investment.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, as part of continuous
effort to improve the functioning of the BNC, we charged
the officials with the responsibility of reviewing the
Working Groups. I have been advised that the officials
have concluded this exercise are ready to present their
recommendations on this as well as other aspects of
the work of the BNC. I hope that these recommendations
will help improve the functioning of the BNC as an effective
and efficient tool to manage bilateral relations between
our two countries.
During this BNC, several activities and events will
take place on the fringes of the official session. These
are the Information Communication Technology (ICT) Forum,
the South Africa-Algeria Business Forum and Cultural
activities, which will bee held to commemorate the 50th
anniversary of the Algeria Revolution. These activities
are concrete demonstration of our peoples' commitment
to expand cooperation between our two countries. Through
these activities we are building closer ties and people
to people cooperation.
At the end of this session we shall propose for adoption
by our two Presidents, the Pretoria Plan of Action,
which shall guide the BNC until the 5th session which
will be held in Algiers in 2005.
I would now like to invite my colleague, the Honourable
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation
of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Algeria, Mr. Andelaziz
Belkhadem to make his remarks.
I thank you.
Issued by Ronnie Mamoepa on 082 990 4853.
c/o Department of Foreign Affairs
Private Bag X152
Pretoria
0001
5 October 2004
|
