WeeklySA_AdminEmbrace: South Africa’s vision embraced women taking their rightful place in the economy
By Monk Nkomo
The challenges facing the world were formidable and needed both South Africa and Switzerland to strengthen their cooperation in ensuring that their voices calling for peace drowned out the drums of war.
This was said by President Cyril Ramaphosa during his address to the Swiss House of Parliament in Bern during his recent State visit to Switzerland.
South Africa, he added, supported joint solutions to common problems and valued multilateralism and fair and consistent application of international law.
‘’ We believe that peace is not merely the silence after the guns have stopped. Peace is about justice and development . It is about communities flourishing and economies growing. South Africa supports Switzerland’s efforts to promote peace through mediation and diplomacy. We welcome your active role in conflict prevention and humanitarian relief around the world.’’
Ramaphosa said South Africa’s vision embraced women taking their rightful place in the economy, young people igniting innovation and small enterprises growing into mighty engines of prosperity. As South Africa and Switzerland , we must strengthen our cooperation in international fora, ensuring that the voices calling for peace drown out the drums of war.’’
Both countries must deepen their economic ties and transform investment into changed lives and strengthen communities.
‘’ The challenges facing our world are formidable – from war and conflict to inequality to climate change. But we have shown that we have the determination and the means to overcome these challenges.’’
Ramaphosa said South Africa remembered the Swiss citizens and organisations that stood with this country in its darkest hours under apartheid. This solidarity planted the seeds of friendship and cooperation. South Africa and Switzerland were nations that believed in a just and peaceful global order.
‘’We believe in the founding principles of the United Nations Charter. South Africa supports Switzerland’s efforts to promote peace through mediation and diplomacy. We welcome your active role in conflict prevention and humanitarian relief around the world’’.
Just as South Africa shared a desire to work together to build a better world, so too did they seek a partnership to realise the potential of its people.
Switzerland was one of South Africa’s main trading partners and a leading source of foreign direct investment, according to Ramaphosa . Swiss investors were creating opportunities in South Africa, transferring knowledge and driving transformation – from finance to renewable energy, from pharmaceuticals to advanced manufacturing.
South Africa’s renewable resources combined with Swiss expertise in clean technology and sustainable finance, could lead the way to a future that was green, just and inclusive. South Africa’s commitment to infrastructure, industrialisation and digital innovation opened vast horizons for partnership.
‘’Together, we can prove that economic growth and environmental stewardship are not adversaries but allies. Together, we can drive empowerment. We see education, research and skills development as investments in human potential. Our universities and research institutions are bridges between our peoples’’.
This visit marked a beginning of the next chapter of the relationship between both countries. This would be a chapter defined by lives transformed, thriving partnerships and a world that was more just, more peaceful and more sustainable, Ramaphosa said.
