Date: 24/04/2007
Source: KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
Title: Ndebele: Welcoming Singapore delegation to KwaZulu-Natal

Remarks by KwaZulu-Natal Premier Mr Sibusiso Ndebele welcoming the Singapore delegation to KwaZulu-Natal, Elangeni Hotel

24 April 2007

Your Excellency, The Honourable President of Singapore, Mr S R Nathan
Madam Urmila Nandey, First Lady of Singapore
Deputy High Commissioner of Singapore Mr Ram Chadara
Members of the Executive Council
Deputy Mayor of the Ethekwini Municipality Mr Logie Naidoo
Members of the provincial and local government
Distinguished guests

This morning we visited one of KwaZulu-Natal's most historic heritage sites the Phoenix Settlement, which was the home of Mahatma Gandhi. Tomorrow we will be visiting the Luthuli Museum, where we will pay tribute to one of KwaZulu-Natal and Africa's greatest freedom fighters. It is clear Mr President that in the two international figures that I have mentioned, we are painting a picture of this beautiful province which tells us all that we are a diverse people.

Relations between our two countries have been strengthening since South Africa was readmitted to the international family after 1994. Most recent of these ways of strengthening ties between our two countries has involved the upgrading of your diplomatic representation to that of High Commission in 2005.

President Thabo Mbeki undertook a State Visit to Singapore in April 2005. The key outcome of that visit was an agreement between our two countries to commence talks on a Free Trade Agreement between the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) and Singapore.

President Mbeki and Prime Minister Lee also witnessed the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Republic of South Africa and the Republic of Singapore which dealt with Bilateral Co-operation.

The MOU sets out specific areas in which Singapore and South Africa can co-operate. This includes trade and investment, tourism, maritime affairs, academic co-operation, human resources development, crime and terrorism. Both Singapore and South Africa have committed to working for a more liberal air services agreement with a view to eventually concluding an Open Skies Agreement. We have no doubt that when these skies are open, KwaZulu-Natal will be one of the first destinations to which your airlines will fly.

One of South Africa's core objectives, as set out in the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative (AsgiSA), is to halve poverty and unemployment by 2014. We are also working hard to create conditions for a sustainable growth rate of six percent. We have no doubt that this meeting today is an important step for our country and province to get closer, quicker to that growth rate.

Singapore is the world's fourth largest foreign exchange trading centre after London, New York City and Tokyo. We also note that according to reports we have received, if your economy continues to grow as well as it is currently doing, you may overtake Japan as the third largest foreign exchange centre by 2008. We are also aware of the fact that Singapore has been rated as one of the most business friendly economies in the world.

It is said that Singapore was able to recover from the recession because you took advantage of improvements in the world economy. The Singaporean economy itself has grown by 8,3% and 6,4% in 2004 and 2005, respectively. With a per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2005 of 26 833 dollars and the unemployment rate of 2,7% in 2006, it is not surprising that you created 173 000 new jobs in 2006.

We are also aware that your country is a popular travel destination, making tourism one of its largest industries. We are told that about 9,7 million tourists visited Singapore in 2006.

For our part KwaZulu-Natal is definitely becoming a major tourist destination of the country. According to statistics provided by the Tourism Authority of KwaZulu-Natal the province received a total of 11,6 million domestic visitors and 1,6 million international visitors in 2005. These visitors brought R20,7 billion into the economy of KwaZulu-Natal.

Our tourism industry retained its number one status as South Africa's leading domestic tourism destination; Western Cape in terms of overall foreign tourist arrivals.

For the second time in as many years, we hosted the A1 Grand Prix from 23 to 25 February 2007. Through television and marketing, KwaZulu-Natal was once more televised to over two billion viewers throughout the world. This amounted to immeasurable exposure for our province.

Our province is blessed with good rainfall which makes the agricultural sector an obvious choice for investment. We also boast the largest and busiest ports in Africa, in Durban Harbour and Richards Bay. Our province also boasts a rich cultural diversity and abundant wildlife.

Our road and rail infrastructure is among the best in the country and the continent. We are quickly catching up with other developed countries when it comes to information technology and we have one of the most advanced financial systems in Africa.

However, more work still needs to be done. Singapore, through its Co-operation Programme, provides technical assistance to developing countries worldwide, in areas of tourism education, aviation and port management.

We have as one of our provincial priorities the development of human resource capacity because we believe our people will lead and sustain this new wave of economic growth. We hope that our relationship with Singapore which we are cementing today will also result in co-operation in the area of increasing technical skills in our province.

We have no doubt Mr President that this is the start of a long term relationship. We will work harder to ensure that this important relationship stays alive and is given every chance it requires to bear fruit for the benefit of our two countries.

Welcome President Nathan and your official delegation and your business delegation to the beautiful province of KwaZulu-Natal.

Issued by: Office of the Premier, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
24 April 2007