
Vice Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China and Co-Chairperson of PPEM, H.E Madam SUN Chunlan
Deputy Ministers from the People’s Republic of China
Deputy Ministers from the Republic of South Africa
His Excellency, Ambassador Chen Xiaodong
Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Distinguished guests
Government officials present
Ladies and Gentlemen
Your Excellency, Madam SUN Chunlan, on behalf of the government and the people of South Africa, it gives me immense pleasure to welcome you and your delegation to this, our beautiful country, South Africa.
It has been four years since we last met, on 3 December 2018 to be exact, in your beautiful country, the People’s Republic of China. At the time of our meeting, during the second People to People Exchange Mechanism (2nd PPEM), we were not aware of the impending Covid-19 pandemic that was to swept the world.
Its impact is still being felt even today. It has impacted negatively to the United Nations Organisation (UNO) Sustainable Development Goals. The Global South is worst affected and Africa being part of that grouping, has not escaped the wrath of the pandemic.
The conspicuous failure of the current global institutions to resolve conflicts fairly, justly and equitably in order to safeguard the interests of all nations brings about despair to our people.
However, initiatives such as Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) and such forums as PPEM give hope to the people of the Global South. The PPEM endeavour, is rooted in people-to-people relations as the cornerstone of any cooperation and achievements.
This form of relations, otherwise known as “soft diplomacy’’ puts the people at the centre of development, it speaks to them, their needs and foster mutual understanding and friendship.
We have seen how resilient our people are in the face of adversity and we will do well to harness that resilience and ingenuity to better manage our PPEM programme.
Your Excellency, the meeting today is important in that it gives us an opportunity to reflect on the journey we have travelled since 2017, the achievements, the challenges and the opening of new frontiers and opportunities as we continue to develop and grow our partnership.
Our two co-coordinators met in the recent past to review the work of PPEM and to provide some necessary impetus to the work of the various streams and sectors that make up the initiative. The meeting was crucial in that it was the first meeting of the co-coordinators since the formation of the PPEM after such a long period since the advent of Covid-19. The meeting noted that there has been considerable work done in various streams that are part of the PPEM.
The Joint Minutes we are going to sign today should be the mantra upon which our success is measured. As we will meet again in 2025, we should endeavour to meet all our targets outline in the Joint Minutes. We should have fewer challenges and more achievements.
I have no doubt in my mind, that all of us in this room today are of one mind, to ensure the success of PPEM as a vehicle to propel our countries into shared prosperity. I look forward to a successful engagement.
Thank you.