Video Speech by Mr. Fikile Majola, Deputy Minister of Ministry of Trade, Industry and Competition of South Africa at China-Indian Ocean Region Forum on Development Cooperation

Video Speech by Mr. Fikile Majola, Deputy Minister of Ministry of Trade，Industry  and Competition of South Africa at China-Indian Ocean Region Forum on Development Cooperation

Kunming, Yunnan Province, China

21 November, 2022

Chairman of China International Development Cooperation Agency, Governor and Deputy Governor of Yunnan Province of China, representatives of various governments, esteemed guests, from the government of the Republic of South Africa，I bring fraternal greetings to the People's Government of China and all the esteemed guests.

It is my pleasure to address this great event convened under the theme of "Shared Development Theory and Practice" from the perspective of the blue corner. The event offers an opportunity to the representatives of different governments and think tanks advanced ideas and practices to promote international development cooperation. This is more important now because the world today is under the combined impacts of a devastating pandemic and economic changes both unseen in a century. As the global economy faces bumpy road to recovery, it is the responsibility of humankind in general and government in particular to all respond decisively to these problems.

We need to collectively find ways to strengthen cooperation and facilitate blue economic cooperation, through policy coordination and collaboration, through shared commitments. We must address ocean climate governance, and sub-marine resource conservation. To push back the ravaging effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and economic challenges, we must proactively bring the focus back on development and build global consensus on development.

The government of South Africa congratulates the Chinese government led by President Xi Jinping for putting forward a range of pragmatic steps for development. These, among others, include upgrading China’s South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund into the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund and setting up the Global Development Promotion Center.

The ocean, precious resource for us, supports the livelihoods of more than three billion people. In 2015, the United Nations included the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development in the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. It is in this context that in our continent of Africa, the blue economy is seen as the new frontier of African Renaissance. A total of 38 out of the African Union’s 55 member states are coastal or island states, while 64 percent of the African continent is covered by a network of freshwater resources such as rivers, lakes and basins. These aquatic resources represent tremendous potential for blue food, nutrition and food security, ecosystem services, employment and wealth creation and innovation.

However, in recent years, marine ecological problems have become increasingly prominent due to the impact of climate change and marine pollution and other harsh environmental factors. The non-sustainable marine economic model has brought about rapid consumption of marine resources that are destroying the natural ecological environment of the ocean. Extreme weather and natural disasters such as tsunamis, floods and droughts caused by climate change are also threatening the survival and development of human beings. Indian ocean rim countries, which are neighbors and partners of the sea, are the first to be hit by problems such as climate change and extreme weather. In our country, South Africa, and India, areas along the coastal seabed experienced unprecedented flooding that resulted in loss of lives and livelihoods.

These cross-border factors have a significant impact on development, so we have to pay attention to international development cooperation, advance the blue economy and solve development problems. This calls for greater cooperation data and coordinated approaches, as well as future casting, integrated planning and resilience building in world's blue economy to stand external shocks and maximize opportunities offered by sustainable development of blue economies.

In this regard, we applaud the China International Development Cooperation Agency and the people's government of Yunnan Province of China for initiating the China-Indian Ocean Region Forum on Development Cooperation. We hope that this initiative will facilitate ongoing commitments from countries in the Indian ocean rim region to promote friendly and practical cooperation in pursuit of sustainable development of blue economies.

I thank you.