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Honourable Ministers

I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincerest thanks to the Government of Malawi and in particular to my colleague, the Honourable Minister Rolf Patel, for the excellent reception, arrangements and particularly the pleasant venue for this meeting.

On reviewing our progress since the first meeting which I attended in Lesotho, it is gratifying to note that the scientists of our region have taken the ball and run with it. This action has resulted in us reducing our dependence on donor aid by 2,3 million US dollars. I look forward to seeing the first publications coming from this work next year, because running with the ball still does not mean that we are scoring tries, as those of you who watched the rugby match between France and England yesterday would have noticed. I want to say, though, that the South African Council for Geoscience will undertake and bear the costs of the publication of these reports on the geologies of the Kalahari Sedimentary Basin, of diamond deposits in our countries, of ornamental stones, of heavy metal sands, of bauxite deposits and of non-metallic industrial minerals.

I note the constraints which our scientists are experiencing, such as a lack of communication facilities, problems with inter-state travel and manpower shortages. When I look at the problems of communication within our region it is clear to me that it is not only a problem of us communicating with one another but it is also a problem of us understanding and communicating with the big world out there. I urge my colleagues to address this problem with urgency and commitment. Without these there is no way that we will be able to develop our part of the world. We simply must place our scientists and engineers in a position to play as a team for the benefit of the region.

We as Ministers must accept and urge our officials to accept too that this meeting is not an end in itself. In fact, it is only a way to organise the means to ensure progress in our development. Gentlemen, it is for us to understand today that talking in a meeting is no conclusion of any affairs. Talking in a meeting, gentlemen, is only there to organise us to achieve. When this meeting closes this afternoon it is the start of the work on which we shall report next year.

I not with satisfaction that we will involve the private sector of the region in the direction future projects and programmes will take. When I look at past projects such as the electrode project, the gypsum project and others, I wish to express my full agreement with the sentiments I have heard here which say: "The state is simply not good at, nor designed for, entrepreneurial business. It should be left to the private sector to bring jobs and better living standards to our people by establishing and constantly improving a competitive and market-orientated economic system." I fully associate myself with these sentiments.

For this reason I strongly support the meeting scheduled for September in Pretoria between the governments of SADC and the private sectors of our countries. At this meeting we will give our business leaders a chance to tell us how they see things and how they want to achieve our common goals of increased employment and better living standards which is only possible if wealth is created by a profitable business sector. In other words: what are their requirements?

Gentlemen, we have to organise the future mining industry of our area in such a way as to empower the population of our region. For this a stable stock-exchange in which our citizens as well as foreigners can invest with confidence and security is a prerequisite. That is why I strongly support the meeting between our governments and private sectors in September to which I have just referred. Without the private sector in our team, we are like a golfer without a putter. The involvement of the private sector in the development of the protocols and in the implementation of regional economic integration is critical. Without their active participation no growth will take place.

When I look at the balance of the programme, I believe that we have made progress in our attempts to separate the business of the State from the business of the private sector, although some obvious shortcomings still exist. But at least we have been able to weed from our past programmes those projects which are clearly not the affairs of state.

Access to qualify information is critical for any business decision. Basic information is a responsibility of the state. In fact Honourable Ministers, the main function that we have as Ministers is to ensure that our departments collect, organise, systematise and disseminate knowledge and information on our countries and their economic opportunities, to the business sector and the public at large. Sure, we can regulate where it is required but basically this is what the Permanent Secretaries do - that is the way to avoid corruption. Good country-specific statistics, which is your responsibility for your country, Ministers, serve as a sound basis for business decisions, and for the identification of business opportunities.

A second area of opportunity is to organise ourselves to face the challenges of the competition we face in world markets. Perhaps we should stop thinking of SADC and start thinking about SAEC. Are we not we an Economic Community? Or do we still think about ourselves as merely a Development Community? For this we must organise ourselves so that the knowledge and information of the first world becomes accessible and available in the region to whoever needs it on a continuous basis. The e-mail and Internet systems must become a household item in our countries and in this Community. We live in a time and world where information and knowledge determine the fate of countries and peoples. If we do not empower our populations with knowledge and information, we will remain poor and destitute. In this area there is still much room for improvement.

By our achievements our populations will judge us. If we cannot show that we are laying the groundwork for real achievement, if through our deliberations we cannot point to a way forward which will give hope and prosperity to our people, the future of this organisation will be in jeopardy. We all remain subject to the wishes and needs of the common man or woman, poor and destitute as they may be. Gentlemen, it is a time for action.

I would also like to invite you to hold the 1996 Ministers meeting in Cape Town. It would be a privilege to welcome you to the Cape at the end of May. Although there will not be World Rugby Cup matches to watch, we will be in time for the release of the 1995 season nouveau wines.

From my various conversations with my colleagues I want to thank you in advance for your support of the Springbok rugby team playing tomorrow. It is good to know that the 11 countries of the region are firmly behind us. With this display of solidarity, and irrespective of the result, we cannot lose.