PRETORIA, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is set to use his trip to the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) VII Summit next week to advance Africa’s development.
The TICAD Summit is set to take place in Yokohama, Japan, on Aug 28-30.
The summit will be convened under the theme Advancing Africa’s Development through Technology, Innovation and People.
TICAD is a multilateral leaders’ forum on African development that was first convened in 1993 in Japan.
TICAD VII has identified three key priorities namely; accelerating economic transformation and improving business environment through innovation and private sector engagement; deepening sustainable and resilient society, and strengthening peace and stability.
The summit will focus on science, technology and innovation; human resource development and education; the oceans economy; climate change and disaster risk reduction, and agriculture.
South Africa views the partnership between Japan and the African continent as an enabler for infrastructure development and industrialisation throughout the continent.
President Ramaphosa will also on the margins of TICAD address an investment event convened by the Department of Trade and Industry, said the Presidency.
More than 140 Japanese companies have an investment footprint in South Africa totalling more than R90 billion.
The government of Japan as well as the country’s corporate sector view South Africa as a strategic partner on the African continent and within the context of the programmes and activities of TICAD.
President Ramaphosa is expected to have a number of bilateral engagements with counterparts attending the summit.
On Wednesday 28 August, the President will participate in a South Africa-Japan business roundtable to be hosted at the headquarters of the Nissan Corporation and in which a South African business delegation will engage with their counterparts in Japanese commerce and industry.
On the same day, the President will also address a Summit forum on Science and Technology in Society and will co-hair a plenary session on economic transformation, said the Presidency.
On Aug 29 the President will participate in a public-private business dialogue coordinated by Trade and Investment South Africa, an agency of the Department of Trade and Industry.
The President will also have an engagement with the Japan External Trade Organisation, a government-related organisation that promotes mutually beneficial trade and investment relations between Japan and other nations.
President Ramaphosa will be accompanied by International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor; Trade and Industry Minister Ebrahim Patel and Higher Education, Science and Technology Minister Blade Nzimande.
Source: NAM News Network