Address by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Honourable Ms Sue van der Merwe, on the occasion of the Opening of the UNIDO Sub-Regional Office in Pretoria, 19 April 2006

Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Mandisi Mpahlwa,
Your Excellency, Director-General of UNIDO, Dr Kandeh Yumkella,
Your Excellencies, Ministers from SADC,
Your Excellencies, Ambassadors and Heads of UN Agencies,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen:

I am extremely delighted to be here this morning and to join such a distinguished gathering for the official launch of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) Sub-Regional Office.

As South Africa, we are particularly pleased with this initiative taking root on South African soil since we believe that there should be a greater focus and attention on the United Nations (UN) system as a way and means of solving the major problems affecting the world's nations and people. We remain committed to multilateralism in principle and in practice, and we do so in an age where we believe that so many of the world's problems stem from the gap between North and South, between rich and poor, between developed and underdeveloped economies - a reality that partly results from the current global systems of governance especially in the economic and political spheres.

In this context it is indeed an honour for me to address you today. On behalf of the Minister of Foreign Affairs who is not able to be here today and Department of Foreign Affairs, as custodians of South Africa's foreign policy, I am happy to welcome UNIDO as the newest member of the United Nations Country Team in South Africa.

Understandably, the UNIDO office will have a broad mandate. But I think that the challenge today lies in reflecting on how we, as the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and as members of the United Nations family, can work together with UNIDO as partners, to expedite our developmental activities, and through helping to achieve our integration objectives in the SADC region.

Let me perhaps remind us at this gathering that last year SADC celebrated its Silver Jubilee (twenty-five years of existence) - under its original name, the Southern African Development Co-ordinating Conference - a remarkable milestone for an organisation that has done so much over the years to bring about the liberation of South Africa. There will be those in this gathering who will be able to recall that SADC was formed with four principal objectives, namely to:

• Reducing Member States' dependence, particularly, but not only, on apartheid South Africa;
• Implement programmes and projects with national and regional impact;
• Mobilise Member States' resources, for the quest for collective self-reliance and
• Secure international understanding and support.

For two decades, the Member States pursued these objectives with determination and vigour. When the liberation of South Africa finally came about, it was a victory achieved not only by the South African people, but with the full and active participation of SADC countries who lost many of their citizens as a result of their efforts to free South Africa and we salute them for this.

This historic victory also meant that there was need to change the focus of SADC countries especially in the context of a rapidly globalising world and the demands this placed on the region and on national economies in particular.

This transformation meant that SADC would undergo fundamental change from a co-ordination conference into a community dedicated to the ideals of free trade, free movement of people, a single currency, democracy, and respect for human rights. The restructuring exercise is aimed at facilitating the implementation of a more coherent and better co-ordinated strategy which is in turn aimed at improving the efficiency and effectiveness of SADC policies and programmes.

As this gathering may very well recall, the Heads of State and Government subsequently met at an Extra-ordinary Summit in Windhoek and approved the restructuring of SADC institutions in March 2001. This Summit also approved the preparation of the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) by the Secretariat. The Plan complemented restructuring and provided a clear direction for SADC policies and programmes over the long term.

The transformation processes has been underway for some time and as SADC countries, we continue to work together to consolidate and conclude the restructuring process. We continue to strive towards strengthening governance and capacity in SADC especially at the level of the Secretariat and to work towards the full implementation of RISDP.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

We are confident that the UNIDO Sub-Regional Office, in close co-operation with the public and private sector in the region, will be able to add value to the RISDP of the SADC Member States. For the region as a whole faces the challenges of creating an environment that is conducive to the attainment of high and sustained rates of economic growth.

Moreover, in terms of SADC Treaty Article 5, Member States are committed to the "promotion of common political values, systems and other shared values which are transmitted through institutions that are democratic, legitimate, and effective." In addition, as SADC countries, we have set ourselves key integration and development enablers and firmly acknowledge that: -

• Economic growth and development will not be realised in conditions of political intolerance.
• Good economic and corporate governance is essential for the realisation of deeper integration and poverty eradication in the SADC region and
• Good political and economic governance, entrenched in a culture of democracy, transparency and respect for the rule of law represent the bedrock upon our regional Plan is premised.

What is however paramount is that poverty alleviation is addressed in all SADC activities and programmes with the ultimate objective of eradicating it. Of particular importance to note is that poverty and disease are a major threat to the attainment of the objectives of SADC. The priority is to work towards poverty alleviation and ultimately poverty eradication.

Within the context of sustaining social and economic development, it is clear that without support, African countries will not be able to meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) by 2015. As President Mbeki noted in his statement at the September 2005 United Nations Millennium Review Summit

"The outcome document honestly states that Africa is 'the only continent' not on track to meet any of the goals of the Millennium Declaration by 2015…"

So, the Millennium Review Summit clearly demonstrated that the Millennium Development Goals would not be achieved in Sub-Saharan Africa, unless there is a dramatic increase in resource flows as a matter of urgency.

With the opening of this UNIDO Office, it is hoped that UNIDO will in concrete ways help to promote development in the sub-region. We look forward to enhanced co-operation with UNIDO at a country level not only in South Africa, but, more importantly, in all of the countries in our region that will be served by this Office.

Excellencies:

Part of our efforts in sustaining development must also focus on modernizing our economies, on taking an integrated and co-ordinated approach to rural development as well as urban renewal.

As His Excellency, Dr Kandeh Yumkella, Director-General of UNIDO, correctly pointed out when he opened the South-South Co-operation Centre in India about three weeks ago:

"It is sad to see the absence of focus on industrial competitive strategies in the global development debate today."

Economic development in the region since the late 90s has focused on the areas of trade and industry and the finance and investment sector. This needs to be complemented by joint public and private initiatives for infrastructure investment, skills development, the economic empowerment of women and the stimulation of foreign and direct investment, especially along the lines of South-South co-operation and South-South trade flows.

What SADC also requires in its efforts towards integrated economic development is greater technical capacity to carry out this mandate.
We believe that the new UNIDO office will be in a position to assist with addressing aspects of these challenges especially around capacity building for sustainable development.

Clearly, we need to raise productive capacities of our region and ensure that the benefits of our economic growth are shared by all. As Southern Africa, which is intrinsically part of Africa, we indeed need UNIDO support in order to translate our joint aspirations into concrete programmes and implementable solutions.

In conclusion, we regard UNIDO as indeed an important player in our journey to sustained economic development. We are confident that the new Sub-Regional Office will improve the effectiveness of the services that are provided to our region in support of the realisation of the vision of an African Renaissance.

As our Foreign Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma also recently observed during the opening session of the 3rd IBSA Ministerial Trilateral Commission in Brazil,

"Time has come for us to re-evaluate our modest dreams and check the reality score, so that we can find the legitimacy of our Principals making bold of their yesterday's dreams to the world."

We believe that the opening of UNIDO Sub-Regional office today provides us with a perfect opportunity to turn our dreams into reality in this age of hope.

As an organisation, UNIDO has an important role to play in unleashing the productive energies of human beings, in helping to nurture an environment conducive to job creation, and in responding to the immense challenges posed by poverty.

We also believe that government, as a facilitator, should create an enabling environment for development. Government should also provide leadership and the facilitating tools for people to seek opportunities for attracting trade and investment.

With this end in mind, we look forward to working in closer cooperation with UNIDO for enhancing co-operation with the aim of sustaining social and economic development across our region, continent and the developing world.

I thank you.