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Pretoria - The Australian government regards closer ties with South Africa as central to its strategy to survive as a prosperous country by giving considerably more attention to Africa, says Stephen Smith, the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Smith - who is on a quick visit to South Africa to promote, among other things, closer co-operation in education, skills development and the Zimbabwe crisis - is the first Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs to visit South Africa in more than seven years.
Australia's need to associate itself "much more significantly" with Africa is being driven by its economic and strategic interests, Smith explained at a function organised by the South African Institute of International affairs (SAIIA).
He observed that in order to survive as a prosperous country in future - both economically and politically - Australia could not afford to ignore a continent of almost a billion people.
He announced that the Australian government, which is seriously lobbying for a seat in the United Nations Security Council, will increase its aid to Africa by 40% this year - to A$160m.
An additional A$100m will be set aside over the next four years to help Africa improve food security.
He declared the past seven years' failure to work actively on bilateral ties with this country as astounding and scandalous. This omission cannot be allowed to recur.
Smith and his South African counterpart, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, agreed that the ministers would meet in a formal context every year in future and that progress in terms of bilateral ties would be regularly reviewed.
South Africa is Australia's most important economic partner in Africa. It is clear that both President Zuma in the Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, are keen to extract maximum value from the relationship, Smith commented.
Over the past five years trade between South Africa and Australia has grown by an average 7% a year and in the 2008/09 financial year it totalled more than A$4bn (R28bn).
South Africa's biggest export to Australia is motor vehicles.
- Sake24.com
For more business news in Afrikaans, go to Sake24.com.