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Opening Statement for Minister Dlamini Zuma at the Asian-African
Ministerial Meeting of 20 April 2005 in Jakarta, Indonesia Honourable Ministers
Your
Excellencies
Heads and Representatives of Regional and Sub-regional organisations
Distinguished
Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen On behalf of the Government and people of
South Africa and as co-host, allow me to welcome you all to the Asia-Africa Ministerial
and to express our thanks for the role that Indonesia has played in preparing
for these Summit meetings. Before proceeding, I would like to express my
deepest condolences and that of the people of South Africa to the victims and
survivors of the Tsunami that took place on 26 December 2004 and the earthquake
at the end of March. These tragic events bear testament to the vulnerability of
all human life, but we must find a way to support and secure a better life for
all the peoples of our nations. The purpose of our meeting here today is
to launch a new strategic partnership that aims to enhance and improve the quality
of life for our peoples. Our collective effort is born of the necessity and the
reality that our people continue to struggle and suffer on a daily basis. The
most marginalised groups are often the most affected by poverty, disaster, underdevelopment
and disease. For this reason, it is imperative that our two continents work together
to ensure a better life for all. Distinguished Delegates, This Summit
also marks the 50th Anniversary of the first Asia-Africa Conference of 1955. In
our commemoration of the Golden Jubilee, we must acknowledge and remember those
leaders whose great foresight paved the way for Asian-African co-operation into
the new Millennium. It is also important to recall that these leaders put forward
a vision of an equitable human society during an era of great economic and political
hardship. If one examines the Ten Principles of Bandung, we truly see how visionary
they were and how relevant their vision still is today. Former President
Soekarno of Indonesia noted, "And, I beg of you do not think of colonialism
only in the classic form which we of Indonesia, and our brothers in different
parts of Asia and Africa, knew. Colonialism has its modern dress, in the form
of economic control, intellectual control, actual physical control by a small
but alien community within a nation." He furthermore expressed that, "No
task is more urgent than that of preserving peace. Without peace our independence
means little. The rehabilitation and upbuilding of our countries will have little
meaning". The world of 1955 is vastly different from the world today.
Six African countries attended the 1955 Conference of which Ghana, known then
as the Gold Coast, and Sudan were not independent states, while the African National
Congress represented South Africa, which could not participate as a sovereign
state because of apartheid. Oliver Tambo, the President of the ANC at the time
described the Conference as, "a step in the direction of meeting the aspirations
of the vast majority of mankind, particularly the oppressed peoples of Asia and
Africa." He furthermore stated that the various delegates and the people
who met were themselves for centuries, "the subjects of exploitation and
foreign domination by Western colonial powers, and have now decided to take the
destiny of their people and their countries unto themselves. It is logical to
expect people who themselves have so long been persecuted, oppressed and humiliated,
to be strongly conscious of these evils and more realistic in their approach to
them since they have no other designs, save to see the end of exploitation, colonialism
and racial domination. They want to see permanent independence of their newly-founded
democracies and the freeing of those who are still under the yoke of foreign domination
and racial oppression."
Fifty years later, however, almost all the countries
of Asia and Africa have thrown off the shackles of colonialism and South Africa
is able to participate as a sovereign state with a government elected by the people. Great
strides have been made globally in terms of promoting a culture of respect for
human rights and democracy, altering the status quo of women in the world, and
working towards the eradication of racial and ethnic discrimination. The advances
since 1955 would not have been possible without the vision of those leaders. Despite
these advances, however, we still live in a world where the chasm between rich
and poor is widening rather than narrowing. As Asians and Africans we have
had a long tradition of working and living together. We recognise in each other
a common humanity and common destiny, as we have suffered the same afflictions
and humiliations imposed by colonialism and face similar challenges in terms of
an unequal international world order, poverty and underdevelopment. As countries
of the South, we have to continue championing the cause of ensuring a more balanced
and equitable global order where the development and advancement of the peoples
of both our continents are prioritised. I am certain that in this partnership
we will find enduring ways of jointly addressing the challenges that face our
continents. I would like to emphasise the importance of bringing our regions closer
together by using both our similarities and strengths to encourage development.
The responsibility of making this partnership successful and effective is shared
by our collective and all other stakeholders to ensure that we find innovative
and concrete ways and means to strengthen co-operation between these two continents
that have bequeathed to humanity such a rich, ancient enduring civilisation. The
New Asia-Africa Strategic Partnership (NAASP) is aimed at improving the welfare
of both Asians and Africans and is underpinned by principles that recognise the
equality of all nations, and promote respect for sovereignty and the right to
self-determination. The NAASP centres on Asian and African ownership based on
a common vision, an equal partnership, mutual respect and benefit. We have agreed
that our co-operation should be practical and based on comparative advantage and
mutual strength. It should focus on three main areas of cooperation: political
solidarity, increased economic interaction and socio-cultural relations. In this
regard, in order to better understand the opportunities arising as a result of
our partnership, the Ministerial Working Group that we held in March 2004 commissioned
a number of studies. These were then presented at AASROC II in Durban in August
2004 and include the following: - Ghana led a study on commodities and
their role in trade and subsequent development patterns.
- Morocco provided
a study on African-Asian co-operation in Trade and Investment.
- The World
Bank presented research on Africa-Asia Trade and Investment Relations.
- Mozambique,
China, Japan and India provided information regarding existing initiatives, i.e.
on EU-Africa relations, the Sino-Africa process, the Tokyo International Conference
on African Development and India-Africa co-operation respectively.
- Lastly,
the ASEAN Secretariat provided a study on the Asian development experience as
a way of sharing experiences/information to assist African countries in their
efforts to fast-track the process of economic growth.
Having done
this, AASROC II then commissioned further studies, namely: - What can
be done to improve product quality and competitiveness and what can be done to
ensure that producers have greater influence on the process of commodity pricing?
(World Bank and Ghana)
- What can be done to facilitate direct trade between
Africa and Asia, i.e. selling directly from producer to consumer? (ASEAN Secretariat)
- What can be done to facilitate increased tourism between Africa and
Asia? (Tanzania, Zambia)
- What can be done in terms of putting in place
regulatory frameworks that would be attractive to investors? (China)
We
would like to thank those countries and institutions that completed these studies
most sincerely. Furthermore, I would like to thank Indonesia who commissioned
the South Centre and UNCTAD to produce two further studies relating to strengthening
economic cooperation between us. It gives me great pleasure therefore to submit
all the completed studies to you for your information and to present a Summary
Report for attachment as an Annexure to the Report on the outcomes of this meeting. The
studies will certainly assist in the practical application of the opportunity
dividend that presents itself to Asia and Africa through the new partnership.
In this regard we need to discuss the matter of what we do with these studies
in order that they do not remain as an academic exercise but translate into practical
actions and outcomes. For example, how do we operationalise the establishment
of a database for storing information to facilitate the identification of opportunities
and to match interested partners, as decided in Durban at AASROC II? Ladies
and Gentlemen Given the enormous potential and the abundance of resources
on both our continents and the fact that Asia and Africa make up 72 percent of
the world's population we should and must play a defining role in the re-shaping
of the international world political and economic order. We must ensure that globalisation
works to our advantage. For the countries of Asia and Africa to succeed in their
quest to overcome the imbalance between developed and developing countries, we
have to act in solidarity in all areas using our combined strength to make our
voices heard. We have come a long way since 1955 and we have much work to
do to ensure that the vision of leaders before us and the hopes of today's and
future generations are brought to full fruition. In particular, let us finalise
the good work that we have done since July 2003 through AASROC I and II and the
Working Group Meeting in March 2004, to ensure an outcome that our leaders will
be satisfied with and our people proud of. The visionary founders were able
to free us from colonialism in its classical sense therefore it is the responsibility
of this generation to free Asia and Africa from poverty and underdevelopment and
if we fail history will judge us rather harshly. We must also be able to
mobilise resources among ourselves and not rely on donor country aid. If our destinies
are in our hands our resources cannot be in the hands of others, we must find
the resources to advance progress and develop ourselves. I would like to
conclude by quoting Kojo Botsio former Minister of State of Ghana who succinctly
captured the spirit of commitment and co-operation demonstrated at the Asia-Africa
Conference of 1955; "A new spirit stirs Africa to activity and the Continent
is shaking itself like a giant from sleep, fresh with the strength that follows
rest. Let us all therefore work together for a newer and happier world in which
all of us shall be free to live as men (and women). It is our hope that this Conference
will succeed in advancing the cause of world peace, progress and prosperity".
This still remains our hope today. I thank You. (Speech presented
by the South African Minister of Foreign Affairs at the Ministerial Meeting of
the Asian-African Summit, April 2005, Jakarta, Indonesia) Issued by Ronnie
Mamoepa on 082 990 4853. Department of Foreign Affairs
Private Bag
X152
Pretoria
0001 20 April 2005
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