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Africa: Asian Giants to Share Expertise With Continent
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BuaNews (Tshwane)
25 March 2008
Posted to the web 25 March 2008
Michael Appel;
Pretoria
Africa can learn a lot from Japan in terms of economic, human resource and skills development, says Foreign Affairs Deputy Director-General for Asia and the Middle East Ambassador Jerry Matjila, Tuesday.
Discussing the upcoming three-day Tokyo International Conference on Africa's Development (TICAD) IV Summit, to be held in Yokohama from 28 May, he said there were many lessons Africa can learn from the Asian powerhouse.
Mr Matjila said during the conference, developed countries should interact with countries like Malaysia, South Korea and Indonesia and learn from them.
"Most of you recall that in the 1960s, a number of African counties were far more developed than many Asia countries.
"But if you look at developments now, they have galloped away from Africa so we need to see what we can learn from Asia - who has far less natural resources than we do - what lessons can we draw for our development models," said Mr Matjila.
The upcoming summit will take place under the theme, "Towards a Vibrant Africa" and will be attended by President Thabo Mbeki.
There will be a focus on three key areas, said the ambassador including the consolidation of peace, human-centred development and poverty reduction through economic growth.
These areas, he said, would also touch on issues including poverty eradication, foreign direct investment, oversee development aid, infrastructure development, the Millennium Development Goals and climate change.
A joint follow-up mechanism will also be created at the summit so progress and agreements can be monitored over the next five years.
India, has invited about 15 African countries including Algeria, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Ghana, South Africa, and Uganda among others, to discuss many pertinent issues at the India-Africa Summit.
This five-day event is expected to take place in New Delhi from 4 April.
"All of us are looking at India and agreeing that by 2015, India will be the third or fourth largest economy in the world," said Mr Matjila, adding that it was therefore important to start interacting with this giant.
In the 1980s, India imported almost all its food, but only about 20 years later and India is already exporting food to other countries.
"The Indian population is almost 1.3 times the African population but can feed itself and even export food.
"We identified agriculture to see how they used agro-technology to feed themselves including the use of drought resistant technology," said the ambassador.
Also, how India has harnessed the usage of Information Communication Technologies to unlock many economic opportunities will also be investigated and discussed.
In terms of consumer and manufactured goods, Indian products line the shelves and are visible on the streets with big names such as Sahara, Mahindra, Tata and many more.
What will also feature prominently on the agenda is how Indian products managed to penetrate seemingly saturated markets so effectively and compete with existing markets.
"Of particular interest to us is the role of Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) in the economy.
"[India has] over four million SMMEs in India and have impacted to a great extent not only in the economy but in exports.
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"About 30 percent of India's exports come from SMMEs," he highlighted.
Mr Matjila also briefed reporters on the 5th India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA) Ministerial Meeting taking place in Cape Town from 5 to 11 May 2008.
He indicated that the ministerial meeting will focus on preparations for the 3rd IBSA Summit in New Delhi which will coincide with naval manoeuvres conducted by the three countries off the Cape coast. -
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