Programme Director, Ms. Mmampei Chaba, Chief Director: Multilateral Cooperation and Africa at the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation;
Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Nomalungelo Gina;
Your Excellency, Ambassador Wu;
Dr Thulani Dlamini, CEO of the CSIR;
Prof Thokozani Majozi, President of ASSAf;
Officials of the Chinese Embassy;
Senior Officials of our Department;
Academics from various universities;
Key Partners and Stakeholders;
Most importantly, the young people who are participants in the SA-China Young Scientist Programme.
Today’s Symposium carries special significance because it takes place in the same month that South Africa marks the 50th anniversary of the June 16 student uprising of 1976 — a moment that profoundly shaped our country’s history.
This Symposium also takes place just a few weeks before the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China — an important milestone in its history.
South Africa and the People’s Republic of China enjoy a long-standing and solid bond of friendship and cooperation. This relationship is rooted in the formalisation of diplomatic relations in 1998 and the signing of the Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation in 1999.
Since then, science, technology, and innovation cooperation between our two countries has grown significantly in both scope and reach. Over the past two decades, China and South Africa have produced more than 100 joint research and development projects.
More recently, new flagship projects have been established in areas such as indigenous knowledge systems, minerals development, renewable energy, and forestry research.
Flowing from this comprehensive Science, Technology, and Innovation Agreement, and in an effort to broaden cooperation in research, development and innovation, South Africa and China signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the Young Scientists Exchange Programme in 2016.
We regard the Young Scientists Exchange Programme as one of the key instruments for promoting skills transfer and making a meaningful contribution to human resource development in both countries.
The Programme’s thematic focus areas include biotechnology, information and communication technologies, new materials, mining and metallurgy, transportation, and nanotechnology. These themes are drawn from the principal Science and Technology Agreement between our two countries.
Today’s Symposium is held under the auspices of the Young Scientists Exchange Programme. We intend to use this platform to advance the objectives of the Programme, including strengthening long-term exchanges that contribute to human resource development in both countries.
These exchanges should support joint training programmes for young scientists, joint research and publications in scientific journals and academic papers, as well as the development of new patents and innovative products. The Programme provides an important mechanism for enhancing these envisaged exchanges.
To the young people who are part of this Programme: you have been afforded a unique opportunity not only to improve your own knowledge and skills, but also to contribute to developing solutions to the challenges of our time.
We therefore expect your research to help address some of the most urgent scientific challenges of our time, including health and pandemic preparedness, inequality and food insecurity, water scarcity and energy security, armed conflict and social violence, the deleterious impact of climate change and biodiversity loss, the ethical use of disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence and the challenges of technological and digital sovereignty.
Your work must embody the ethos of science in the service of social justice and human advancement. As young scientists, you carry both the responsibility and the opportunity to ensure that knowledge, innovation, and discovery contribute meaningfully to a better, more equitable world.
We wish you well in all your endeavours and look forward to more exciting projects that will emerge from this Programme. Congratulations.
In conclusion, I wish to propose that we dedicate this Programme to the selfless generation of 1976, whose courage and sacrifice continue to inspire our pursuit of knowledge, justice, and human advancement.
I also wish to express our sincere gratitude to Ambassador Wu Peng and the officials of the Chinese Embassy for their unwavering support and commitment to the objectives of this Programme.
