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The honourable Minister of Public Enterprises, Ms. Stella Sigcau, your Excellency the High Commissioner for Malaysia, Ms. Mahite Mohale, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence, the honourable Mr Tony Yengeni, Chief of the South African Air Force, Lt Gen. Willem Hechter, Executive Chairman of Armscor, Mr Ron Haywood, esteemed guests and fellow South Africans.

On these occasions, when we as a diverse and extensive South African defence community gather together on foreign soil, I find myself overwhelmed by a tremendous sense of pride. As I look across this venue, I am actually aware of the dedication of the individuals before me: dedicated enough to offer their personal and professional resources in service to the interests of South Africa; professional enough to validate our presence here at LIMA '97 - a presence which in itself, speaks of our dynamic standards of competitiveness and technological innovation.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish to welcome you and extend to you my sincere gratitude for the personal sacrifices and professional contributions each of you have made in your capacity as South African representatives at LIMA '97.

The dedication and unity which this event has demanded from all of you, will indeed be a reflection of the responsibility, efficiency and transparency of the South African Defence community.

My very special thanks goes to Armscor, without which such a concerted effort would not have been possible, Mr. Ron Haywood, I thank you and the whole Armscor team for your part in keeping the South African defence industry in touch with the international defence community.

Malaysia is a good friend of our country. Our ties have been consolidated through several commitments which we have signed together to look at and establish solutions to our respective defence and security needs. However, the relations between our two countries have roots deeper than that.

Both South Africa and Malaysia are fiercely independent countries. Both have a history of long struggle to achieve independence and freedom. Upon gaining independent statehood, South Africa, like Malaysia, has asserted its sovereignty within the international community.

This sense of independence has been translated into economic terms. Both countries are striving to put self-sustaining economic policies into place. These are among the many reasons that we feel so comfortable doing business with Malaysia.

We, as South Africans, have a wealth of experience, expertise and foresight in the defence sphere which we want to share with countries in this part of the world. Our capabilities and standards are set by the stringent operational conditions which the African environment dictates, and this makes our products even better.

The resulting niche technologies are manifested in durable and versatile systems and equipment and it is for this reason that I am particularly pleased that our exhibition at LIMA '97 will also include flying the Rooivalk.

As a prominent defence exhibition, LIMA, which was founded in 1991, has matured to a significant international exhibition. Malaysia is strategically located at the cross-roads of the most vibrant economies in this part of the world. Despite recent problems in financial markets, it is an excellent potential market area for South African defence technologies.

Although entry into certain markets remains difficult, we as South Africans must maximise our areas of expertise and market ourselves effectively.

The volume of trade with Malaysia has over the past years increased by 250% - excluding defence equipment. Malaysia ranks second to the USA in terms of new investment in South Africa since 1994. Total two-way trade between South African and Malaysia reached R1.7 bn in 1996 - up from R1,4 bn the previous year. South African imports from Malaysia were valued at just over R1 bn in 1996 and exports to Malaysia increased from R658 m in 1995 to R714 m last year.

Malaysian business is also looking at joint ventures and investments in Africa and sees South Africa as a gateway to these markets. The trade agreement with Malaysia, signed in March this year, during the visit of President Mandela, indicates the two countries are seriously committed to developing mutual trade.

Fellow South Africans, a defence industry such as ours which yields $272 m per annum through defence exports, commands respect in a new world order which has witnessed budgets being slashed. There are still many defensive efforts which we must undertake such as peacekeeping, defending the sovereignty of the state and dealing with humanitarian concerns such as the legacy of land mines.

Peacekeeping has become the responsibility of every country as the world struggles to contain conflicts which continue to plague the globe. We, as South Africans, must use our indigenous technologies to render assistance in our region and to promote and market our very capable systems.

The Defence Review was formally approved recently and this achievement is the culmination of long hours of dedicated consultation and planning to enable the SANDF to define its final force structure and capital equipment requirements.

I envisage that the Government to Government Strategic Alliance packages which are currently being evaluated, will have a major impact on the South African economy. Not only will the SANDF get the hardware that they so desperately need, but it is expected that the industrial participation element will benefit the whole South African economy. It will create many opportunities for technology development, retention of skilled human resources and job creation. The possibility of local defence companies forming joint ventures should be exploited to the full.

I also wish to take this opportunity to convey some specific messages to our own defence industrialists.

You are well aware of the support my Ministry extends to you and the SANDF. The defence review now allows us to predict with greater certainty what our future requirement will be. This will allow you to prepare better for the future.

At the same time we have to continue attracting more investments to South Africa. We should look at building our infrastructure so that a 3 to 4% growth rate can be maintained for our country.

On a positive note, I wish to add that the ISC court case is coming to an amicable end and trade with our American counterparts will again be possible in the near future, albeit within the constraints of the compliance programme. This programme is basically in place and I am confident that there are many potential opportunities for our own industry to do business with the American industry.

Planning for DEXSA '98 is well under way and I trust that you will have made sufficient impact on our Malaysian hosts, other exhibitors and visiting delegations so that they will be coming to South Africa for this major event.

Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to reiterate my sincere thanks to you for your participation in LIMA '97. Your presence here bears testimony to the dynamic energy of the South African defence industry. Members of the Armscor Board of Directors have also honoured us with their presence today and I wish to thank them for their continuous efforts to support the defence family.

I also wish to extend my thanks to Mrs Stella Sigcau, the senior executives of the South African defence companies whose presence here lends respect and support to our efforts as a defence team and to Mr. Tony Yengeni, Ms Mahite Mohale, Mr. Ron Haywood and Lt. Gen. Willem Hechter.

I furthermore hope that LIMA '97 will be a meaningful experience for all of you and I wish you every success in your endeavours here.

Enjoy the rest of your stay here, and share a peaceful festive season with your loved ones when you get home.

I thank you.

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