Congratulatory Remarks by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ms Sue van der Merwe on the occasion of 46th Anniversary of Republic of Benin's Independence Celebrations, Pretoria, 02 August 2006

The distinguished Charge d'Affaires of the Republic of Benin, Mr Pamphile Goutondji,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to thank you for inviting us to share in the celebration of the 46th Anniversary of the National Day of the Republic of Benin. On behalf of the government and people of South Africa may I also congratulate your government and people on the recent successful presidential elections. Please convey our warm regards to His Excellency, President Yayi Boni.

The recent developments in your country and the general trend in peaceful transitions in many of our fellow African countries are a source of great encouragement to us about our prospects. These developments signify that the journey to the rebirth of Africa is gaining momentum and that we will truly make this an African Century.

We have entered a new wave of independence, in which we are actively striving to rid our continent of all the negative stereotypes associated with it, such a war, famine and disease. In this Age of Hope, we take courage and pride in the fact that we refuse to be wards of benevolent guardians but instruments of our own destiny and sustained upliftment.

As a country, we have benefited from the experiences of countries such as Benin about the pitfalls of sustaining a post-independence state and are determined build strong mutually beneficial relations to ensure that, together, we contribute to a better Africa in a better world. Our countries share many common goals and aspirations - such a good governance, sustainable economic development and creating a better life for all our people.

While we enjoy excellent relations, our economic relations need to be elevated to a higher plane. You will recall that the post-independence euphoria of many African countries was soon eroded by the recognition of the structural weaknesses of continent's economic position vis-à-vis that of the developed states of the North.

We therefore commend Benin on the implementation of sustained economic policy reforms and political stability has enabled the country to achieve a 4.9% average annual economic growth for a decade.

We believe that through increase trade relations between our countries we can further contribute to these promising results and we hope to have a resident diplomatic mission in Benin in the near future. Already in October 2005, an advance team from the Department of Foreign Affairs visited Benin to prepare for the establishment of a diplomatic mission in Cotonou, which will greatly facilitate relations between our two countries.

In addition to the General Framework Agreement on Cooperation, which laid the framework for cooperation between our countries, we also forward to the signing of further agreements.

These would include amongst others, the Agreement on the Reciprocal Protection and Promotion of Investment and the Agreement on Cultural Cooperation both of which are ready to be signed.

We also look forward to signing an agreement on tourism, which is critical in promoting travel between our countries as well as encourage people to people contact. For us, this will be quite critical given that we will be hosting the World Cup in 2010, where I am sure many of your countrymen and women will be present in their national colours to support their team "le ecureuils" (Squirrels).

In today's increasingly globalising world no country can hope to overcome the challenges global challenges alone. Now more than ever we need to work in partnerships, particularly within the African continent. The establishment of the African Union in 2002 was a momentous step in this direction. The AU established the political framework for our co-operation. We need to translate this vision into reality through committing ourselves to implementing its economic programme, the NEPAD.

Therefore, beyond our bilateral co-operation, we also need to co-ordinate our positions at multilateral forums. It is only through coordinated efforts such as these that we can be able to effectively address concerns such as those that you have with your cotton industry, which is a key contributor to your economy. We are aware of the importance of cotton in your economy and many other African economies, which are being threatened by the subsidised production in the developed countries.

For us this remains a concern because there are already projections that many African countries may not realise the millennium development goals. We will therefore do what we can to further the sectoral initiative, which you have submitted to the World Trade Organisation.

As you correctly pointed out, a large percentage of our people bear the daily injustice emanating from the inconsistent application of the global trade regime that threatens to further marginalise developing countries. We should take heart however in the fact that we have already laid the foundations for take off. We are therefore presented with an historic opportunity to end the scourge of underdevelopment that afflicts our continent and make this a truly African century.

Ladies and gentlemen,
Distinguished guests,

On behalf of government and the people of South Africa, it gives me great pleasure and a special sense of pride, to wish the government and people of Benin good health and peace, prosperity and success in their good work.

I thank you!