Congratulatory Remarks by Deputy Minister Sue van der Merwe on the occasion of the Finland National Day Celebrations, 6 December 2007, Pretoria

Ambassador Tuunanen
Members of the diplomatic corps
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen

On behalf of the Government of South Africa I would like to extend our warmest congratulations to the Republic of Finland on their 90th anniversary of independence. On this day 90years ago, the Finns declared their independence from foreign occupation. From being an initially solemn occasion marked by patriotic speeches and special Church services, this day is now marked by very lively celebrations and we are proud to join our Finnish friends to celebrate this occasion during the month of our own festive season!

The government of South Africa would like to affirm the excellent relations that date back to the years of our struggle for liberation. This friendship and solidarity that has been cultivated over a period of years between our peoples and countries continues to grow from strength to strength and continues to manifest itself today through commonly shared values of democracy, respect for human rights and rule of law, and we continue to build our good relationship on these common values. These same values also underpin our formal bilateral and multilateral relations as well as our commitment to a better Africa in a better world.

From this solid foundation in our relations, we need to further exploit the opportunities that exist between South Africa and Finland and continue to enhance our current cooperation to reflect the modern global challenges, including peace and security issues, migration, energy and climate change, as well as in expanding trade relations, in infrastructure and development. It is therefore no coincidence that these are the very issues that will top the agenda of the forthcoming Africa-EU Summit in Lisbon over the weekend. Here too, I am certain that our commonly shared positions on these issues will ensure that we move towards creating the world that we envisaged all those years ago when we fought in solidarity for the liberation of our country.

Since the formalization of diplomatic relations between our two countries, Finnish development cooperation projects in South Africa, covering a wide range of fields, have had a positive impact on our development efforts.  As we pursue our own development objectives, we know that we have a partner in Finland. We are therefore encouraged by the ongoing partnerships to promote science and technology, and particularly ICT as a priority area for the development of South Africa as well as the whole African continent.  

We are acutely aware that bridging the digital divide is essential for the success of Africa’s flagship development programme, the NEPAD and Finland's support will be pivotal.  This was also underlined in both the Skagen and Molde Declarations which followed the 2000 and 2002 Nordic – South African Summits. Subsequent ministerial visits and the 2003, 2005 and 2007 (3) bilateral consultations have ensured that our relations in the science and technology field and specifically the ICT have grown.  One of the major decisions taken during the 2003 Consultations was the deployment by Finland of an attaché at your Embassy in Pretoria, to deal exclusively with science and technology and ICT matters.  We are indeed very pleased with these initiatives and progress made since then, and we look forward to an even greater expansion of our science and technology relationship.

Continued Finnish support in South Africa, the region and the African continent is therefore vital.  The active and constructive role which Finland and the other Nordic countries play in conflict resolution, capacity building and peacekeeping in Africa is greatly appreciated.  Finland has for years been cooperating with South African NGOs and it is encouraging that this has expanded into other countries in Africa.  We see such trilateral cooperation as very important as we each have different expertise which can be combined to assist in reducing conflicts and their ramifications and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals in Africa.

The support of the Nordic countries for the broad project for the Renaissance of Africa at the South Africa- Nordic Summits in 2000 and 2002 was crucial for gaining international support and acceptance for NEPAD, which has developed and matured and we are already seeing the programme’s positive impact on the continent.

Your Excellency, our country would like to express its gratitude to you and your government on the continued partnership we enjoy with Finland in pursuit of the development of  South Africa and the African continent. 

May I propose a toast to the government and people of Finland and the continuation of the long-established friendship between our governments and peoples.

Thank You