Item 1301 - Notes for a Speech by President Nelson Mandela at the Signing of the Agricultural Co-operation Agreement between South Africa and Mozambique

TRANSCRIPT

1 Practical implementation of spirit of co-operation

1.1 The signing of the Agricultural Co-operation Agreement represents one more concrete step to implement the pledge of co-operation between the governments of South Africa and Mozambique.

1.2 Along with the Maputo Development Corridor initiative and the first meeting last week of the permanent joint commission for co-operation between our two countries, it confirms that our vision of a partnership for peace and prosperity is fast becoming a practical reality.

1.3 The progress being made in bilateral talks, in particular in the fields of defence and education, gives us confidence that this momentum will continue.

2 The Agricultural Co-operation Agreement

2.1 Co-operation in the field of agriculture is essential for our long-term efforts to achieve food security for all our people and to eradicate hunger and poverty.

2.2 South Africa enters this agreement with great expectations of benefiting from it. We have within our borders agricultural challenges as great as Mozambique's, and we are confident that Mozambique's experience and methods help us to meet them. Sharing in the fields of science and technology and human resource development will boost agricultural productivity on both sides of the border.

2.3 The provisions for trade and reciprocal protection of investment will help create a climate for investment and growth, as well as promoting mutually beneficial economic links in the field of agriculture

3 Resettlement of South African fanners

3.1 Amongst the things that have been made possible by the ending of apartheid and destabilisation, is the resettlement of South African farmers in Mozambique, provided for in the agreement signed today.

3.2 Through Project Africa - as this resettlement is also known - skills and experience accumulated in commercial farming in South Africa will be transferred to other African countries. By also promoting eco-tourism, the farmers coming to Mozambique will enhance the project's contribution to development and job-creation.

4 Implementing the agreement

4.1 The South African government is committed to pursuing the opportunities for agricultural cooperation to the full, through the structures and mechanisms established to administer the agreement and to deal with any problems that might arise.

4.2 We are also ready to work for the alignment of our agricultural policies where this will promote the objectives of the agreement.

4.3 However, while our governments have established a framework for co-operation and will work together to implement it, the real benefits will come only if the rest of society joins hands with us. We need the combined efforts of government and business; non-governmental organisations and international donor institutions; and farmers and farm workers to ensure that we realise the immense potential which agriculture has to contribute to economic growth and the development of our countries and the region as a whole.

5 The future

5.1 We are confident that the agreement signed today will last well beyond the initial too years for which it provides, far into the twenty-first century. It will also be just one of many more agreements to be signed in the coming years as the friendship between Mozambique and South Africa flourishes in all-round practical relationships between good neighbours.