Rede von Botschafter Dieter W. Haller anlässlich der Eröffnung der COMA'10 Konferenz an der Universität Stellenbosch

International Conference on Competitive Manufacturing (COMA) - Special focus on Energy Efficiency

3rd February 2010, Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Studies / Wallenberg Research Centre, Stellenbosch

Dear Vice-Rector, Professor Arnold van Zyl,

Dear Chairman of the Conference, Professor Dimitrov,

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

First of all, I would like to express my utter gratitude and appreciation to our hosts from Stellenbosch University, the Departments of Industrial and Mechanical Engineering respectively, for organizing this outstanding event - the fourth time in a row - and for inviting me to address all of you on behalf of the German Government.

Stellenbosch University is a Centre of Excellence and within this Centre the venue of your conference STIAS has a very particular flair. Should I say of „divine seclusion“ or of „challenging thoughtfulness“? Be that as it may: Your numerous presence and your interest in this conference is impressive indeed.

You all share the passion for excellence. You all dedicate yourselves to the highly competitive field of advanced and competitive manufacturing at international level.

I have learned that COMA 2010 has nothing to do with the so-called „Cape Coma“, a concept sometimes used here to describe a mentality which the „Muenchner“ (citizens of Munich) know and under the heading of „leben und leben lassen“.

And, of course, my special welcome goes to the considerable number of German delegates from the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft and from various German Centres of Excellence.

Yesterday, we commemorated in Cape Town the 20th anniversary of the Speech by which then President F.W. de Klerk announced the steps, which paved the way to the democratic transformation of South Africa. In a few days, to be precise, on February 11, we will commemorate the 20th anniversary of Nelson Mandela's release from Drakenstein prison.

I do mention this quite deliberately, because I think it is appropriate to pause and reflect a moment on how much South Africa and the South Africans have achieved in the last 20 years: in creating solid democratic structures, in building a vibrant civil society and in working for peace and reconciliation within and far beyond its borders. We, the friends of South Africa, have all reason to acknowledge these enormous achievements and to express our gratitude to those, who contributed to these achievements with their minds, with their sweat and with their blood. We are grateful that today, here in Stellenbosch, we can meet in a free, democratic and stable South Africa.

I would like to share a few comments with you this morning.

First I would like to say that your deliberations are not just another academic exercise. It is highly political, especially as far as the repercussions for South Africa are concerned, what you will discuss.

South Africa finds herself right in a very complex and challenging process of social transformation, overcoming the legacy and the structural inequalities of the apartheid era. A country which is not only a political driving force in the region and in the whole continent. It is also an economic driver. A country which contributes about 36 % to Sub-Sahara GDP. A Country whose future development will decisively shape the region and the continent. And a country which faces on top of all the challenge of finding its rightful place in a global order.

South Africa's voice is heard in the international fora and South Africa's opinion matters.

All stakeholders in South Africa agree and the new government of Jacob Zuma is aware of the fact, that political and economic stability as well as social progress can only be guaranteed when South Africa returns to her economic growth path and when the developmental gap in various sectors such as education, health and housing is narrowed.

As you all know, after 10 years of continued growth the South African economy fell victim of the global economic crisis with a negative growth rate of about 1.5 - 1.8 % last year.

Key to the economic recovery is the expansion of the manufacturing sector as spelt out by the government in its industrial policy papers. South Africa has put her emphasis in the past - perhaps a bit too long - on commodity-based exports and upstream capital-intensive projects. We all know that there is a new focus now: much more on down-stream activities, more labour-intensive and employing-creating activities, Which means: a new focus on expanding South Africa's manufacturing base which has unfortunately shrunk in the last years. A new focus on creating value-adding chains in the country and not merely exporting commodities.

This approach is one which we Germans and our more 500 companies operating in the country fully share.

I am very pleased that our flagship car-makers like BMW, Mercedes and Volkswagen - strictly in an alphabetical order - have continously increased the local content in their respective production, now up to 80 %. This has been possible due to the close partnership between the South African government and the private sector which paved the way for the establishment of a broad-based supplier industry and for the technological know-how transfer.

It is exactly at this point where your deliberations do come in. The expansion of the manufacturing base of the South African economy requires not only an overall political and economic enabling environment. It also needs a focussed cooperation between research and the private sector.

I cannot but state here that in our assessment the overall political and economic environment for foreign investors in South Africa is favourable. There are, of course, some constraining factors like the lack of skilled labour or a bit of exaggerated bureaucracy. We should also not overestimate the sometimes heated debates on macro-economic changes. So far since 9th of May 2009, when President Jacob Zuma assumed his office we have not seen any substantial changes in macro-economic policies.

I continue to believe that the innovation landscape in South Africa is an overall positive and enabling one. There are strengths, as the existing national policies, but there are also weaknesses like the inadequate skill development, as mentioned before. But above all: there are enormous opportunities.

Given the fact, that South Africa possesses for instance 23 % of world's reserve of titanium and other strategic metals, why should it not be possible to set a titanium beneficiation value chain in motion? The recent establishment of the Titanium Centre of Competence is a step into the right direction.

Let me briefly touch upon your main theme energy sufficiency.

The topic 'energy efficiency' which the organizers chose as the focal point for this conference is without any doubt high up on the global agenda, given the importance of energy security and the immense challenges caused by climate change in all parts of the world.

Following the Cimate Summit in Copenhagen, there is currently a clear emphasis on mutual efforts to achieve a post Kyoto agreement at political level and move ahead with the negotiation process throughout the year 2010.

In this context, I would like to emphasize that the German Government is committed to urge for a binding agreement during the forthcoming Climate Conference in Mexico later this year. It remains our aim to reduce CO2 emissions by 40 % until 2020. Our mitigation strategy rests on two pillars: the expansion of renewable energy production and the increase of energy efficiency.

Conferences like COMA 2010 are an important piece of the overall puzzle that the world community has to put together, in the sense that joint projects and initiatives which are discussed and shaped in this forum deal with the practical implementation of 'energy efficient' and thus more sustainable and 'climate friendly' advanced manufacturing technologies. Thereby, these technologies are part of the practical solutions that are required to meet the challenges of the present and future.

To secure stable energy supply at reasonable prices has become a strategic objective for all our governments. In South Africa the government pursues additional aims: To guarantee access to energy especially to the poorer segments of the society, to improve energy efficiency and to reduce CO2 emissions.

What I find very noteworthy: Going Green is not just a strategic decision of economic and environmental wisdom. It is much more: Going Green has meant for the German economy the creation of almost 300.000 jobs.

Let me conclude with a note on a bilateral aspect: I am very impressed by the magnitude of bilateral projects and initiatives between Germany and South Africa alone. I counted more than twelve joint projects and initiatives over the past years, some of which go back more than a decade.

Just to give you an idea of the diversity of these joint initiatives, let me highlight two concrete examples:

Currently German and South African experts are working together on the Development of an Action Plan for a South-African-German Initiative in Advanced Manufacturing, which will include a whole range of joint activities in this highly competitive area.

Another noteworthy collaborative achievement is the establishment of a Joint Laboratory by Stellenbosch University and the Fraunhofer Society at the Department of Industrial Engineering in conjunction with the Fraunhofer IWU Chemnitz, which is based on an agreement from 2006.

At this laboratory collaborative research projects as well as joint training of postgraduate students are undertaken hand-in-hand.

I am aware that Germany is just one out of many partner countries that work closely with South Africa through this particular university and numerous other institutions. We are proud to be part of a wider family which is both vibrant and innovative.

The German Government is determinded to strengthen Germany's role in the global knowledge society. We have rolled out in 2008 an Internationalization Strategy of Science and Research under the leadership of Education and Research Minister Annette Schavan. It is exactly two years ago that she was here, in STIAS, interacting with the academic staff and the students of Stellenbosch University. And what she said at that time is still valid today. And I quote: „by engaging in a structured dialogue about research and research policies issues, particularly with emerging countries, we want to make an effective contribution to the devlopment of joint initiatives. That is why German researchers need to be given the opportunity to collaborate more closely with the best scientists from all over the world.“ End of the quote.

I can assure you: I will report back to her that our researchers are generously given this opportunity here in South Africa.

I would like to congratulate the hosts of this international conference once again wishing you all continous success in your strife for enhancing international collaboration.

Have many fruitful discussions and an inspiring exchange of ideas.

Thank you for your attention.