Policy Research Seminar on the role of China in SADC industrialisation
On 20-21 April 2017, the UJCI and the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), in collaboration with Oxfam International’s Africa-China Dialogue Platform (ACDP), hosted a policy research seminar on the ‘Prospects for SADC Regional Integration Through Industrialisation and the Role of China’.
Held at the Capital Moloko Hotel in Sandton, Johannesburg, the seminar was attended by scholars, policy-makers and government officials as well as representatives of civil society, private sector institutions, UN agencies, and Regional Economic Communities (RECs). The participants came from across the SADC and COMESA regions as well as from China.
The main objective of the seminar was to examine China-Southern Africa relationships in the context of SADC’s Industrialisation Policy (2012), Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap (2015), and revised Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) for 2015-2020.
The seminar reflected on the background and trajectory of the relationship between China and SADC and its Member States in promoting industrialisation in the region; trade and investment exchanges; and co-operation in infrastructure development and minerals development. It also explored how China could better support, promote and contribute to industrialisation in South Africa, particularly in light of its commitment to this effect at the Forum on China—Africa Co-operation (FOCAC) held in South Africa in 2015, and the G20 Summit held in China in September 2016.
For a summary of and outcome statement on the Policy Research Seminar, click here.