Pretoria – Guided by the National Development Plan (NDP), the South African government remains committed to deepening existing bilateral economic relations for the benefit of all.
“We are confident that our resolve to deepen existing bilateral economic relations and to explore more trade and investment opportunities will contribute towards increased Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
“This is particularly important at a time when the general economic climate is very constricted,” International Relations and Cooperation Deputy Minister Luwellyn Landers said on Wednesday.
The Deputy Minister was delivering a public lecture at Rhodes University in Grahamstown under the theme, “Fostering Democracy and Development through International Cooperation”, which reflected on how Dirco was implementing South Africa’s foreign policy objectives to realise domestic priorities through international cooperation.
Deputy Minister Landers said the calls for the building of a resilient economy will allow the country to address the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality.
“In essence, our foreign policy is informed and guided by our domestic imperatives. Further, global reconfigurations such as Brexit, require more recalibrations from our front in order to meet our developmental aspirations and grow the economy.”
Turning to multilateral relations, the Deputy Minister said since the re-admission to the United Nations – Pretoria’s efforts have been focused on the interests and aspirations of the African continent.
In its two stints in the UN Security Council, Deputy Minister Landers said they have worked tirelessly in strengthening the relationship between the UN Security Council and the AU Peace and Security Council to work towards respect of the regional organization’s intervention on issues affecting their regions.
This has yielded significant gains, he said, referring to the hybrid mission such as UNAMID, as well as greater cooperation between the two councils.
Despite the progress, the Deputy Minister slammed the UNSC for lack of representation especially from African countries despite its work being predominantly based on African issues.
This is exacerbated by unilateral actions by global powers in pursuit of narrow national interests which continue to weaken the UN.
“The configuration of the UN Security Council is such that Africans have a limited say in the management of their affairs.
“We believe that an effective and collective global system of governance remains a critical tool in addressing the challenges faced by humanity across the globe,” Deputy Minister Landers said.
It is for this reason that South Africa remains steadfast in its efforts for pushing for a reformed global governance system based on collective decision making and implementation.
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