Janine du Plessis
21 August 2007
A team of Jamaican businessmen, journalists and academics will visit South Africa in October in order to "build trade and investment bridges" between the two countries.
Speaking to BuaNews at the High Commission in Pretoria on Tuesday, Acting High Commissioner to SA Joan Thomas said representatives of Jamaica's construction, hotel, furniture manufacturing and agriculture industries would form part of the group.
"We have strong political links with South Africa, but we would like to build trade and investment bridges," said Thomas, who has been acting high commissioner since the opening of the High Commission in October last year.
"We want to share ideas and expertise," Thomas added. "We have been established here to show South Africa what we have to offer, and we want to assist and cooperate in any way we can."
She said tourism was a key focus area, as both countries had developed strong tourism markets. "Jamaica's resort tourism markets have excelled. We have cornered the market with over 3-million people touring our country.
"South Africa has a well developed eco-tourism industry, which has tripled in the last 10 years. But with cooperation, South Africa stands to gain a viable resort tourism market, especially in Cape Town and Durban.”
Thomas said Jamaica was also keen to share its expertise in the low-cost housing construction industry. South Africa needed established companies and engineers to build low-cost houses, she said, adding that this was one of the strengths of Jamaica.
She said Jamaica did not have a well-developed agriculture industry and therefore could learn much from South Africa. "his is an area we would like to cooperate on, as South Africa is self-sufficient in terms of this industry."
Thomas said she hoped to see an explosion of cultural cooperation between the two countries.
"Reggae music has evolved into a different genre, and it has even impacted on South African music, as musicians have fused it with Kwaito. We have amazing cuisine that we would like to share; our foods are hot and spicy," she added.
The High Commission flew one of Jamaica's top culinary artists to the country to prepare traditional dishes for Jamaica's Independence Day celebrations on 6 August.
The "Jamaica 45" celebratory events included a church service in Soweto and an Independence Day Reception in Pretoria, marking a milestone in Jamaica's history with South Africa.
Thomas said Jamaica was heartened by President Thabo Mbeki's interest in the Africa Diaspora. "The Caribbean is part of Africa's Diaspora, and we have been designated as the 6th Region of the African Union,” she said.
There are already a number of cooperation agreements in draft form between Jamaica and South Africa. The primary areas include education and culture, science and technology and visa abolition.
"We hope to have them signed soon so we have a framework to work with," Thomas said. "We are currently meeting with government officials to get things started."
South African nationals are currently exempt from requiring a visa for up to three months when visiting Jamaica, and this is extended to Jamaicans. "It is already operational, but we want to formalise these arrangements."
Thomas said it was an exciting time to be in South Africa. "This is a post-independence society with many developmental challenges, but we have shared these challenges and we share commonalities such as our goals.
"South Africa is committed to achieving a rainbow nation, while our motto is 'Out of Many, One People'."
Source: BuaNews
