Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad on Friday defended criticism of President Thabo Mbeki’s numerous foreign trips by saying they are meant to build ties for Africa’s economic and social recovery.
Speaking after Mbeki’s audience with Pope Benedict XVI, Pahad said all the visits consolidated the country’s political and economic initiatives.
”We are now represented in almost every major economic region in the world,” Pahad said, explaining that not only did this open doors for the country but for the continent as a whole.
South Africa has been accused of punching above its weight but Pahad said it has gained a reputation as a peacemaker and negotiator.
”South Africa has established itself as a centre for social change in the world,” he said, noting that an important aspect of foreign policy was ”economic diplomacy”.
In recent years much has been done by developing countries to align themselves into powerful trade blocs to take on the often dictatorial stance of Western economic giants.
Last month leaders from Asia and Africa met in Indonesia to discuss ways of building links that will help their countries climb out of the economic quagmire they find themselves in.
He said the Southern African Common Customs Union (SACU) is currently negotiating free trade agreements with China, India, the United States and Latin America.
He said the agreements, if successful, will contribute enormously to the developing world’s bargaining power.
He said South Africa’s good relationship with China has raised the hackles of many businessmen and labour unions, particularly in the textile and clothing industry, where drastic labour cuts have taken place as the country tries to compete with Chinese imports.
”We can’t go back to the bad old days of protectionism,” he said, stating that maybe South Africa’s textile industry has to look at ”modernising their equipment” in order to compete effectively.
During his visit to Italy Mbeki is scheduled to hold discussions with his Italian counterpart President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in Rome on Friday.
Issues on the agenda are expected to include the consolidation of political and economic bilateral relations, European support for the African agenda, peacekeeping and conflict management in Africa, the forthcoming G8 Summit, and the reform of the United Nations.
On Saturday, Mbeki will, at the invitation of the United States bank Morgan Stanley, address the European, Middle East and Africa CEO Summit in Venice.
The summit, scheduled to run from Thursday to Saturday, is the largest gathering of chief executive officers and chairpersons in Europe. – Sapa