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"Japan and South Africa: Toward A Genuine Partnership"
Author: Daniel Bugan
Published: 23/08/2022

South Africa and Japan have the potential to elevate their partnership to another level which will ultimately benefit both countries, says His Excellency Mr Norio Maruyama, Ambassador of Japan to South Africa.

 Maruyama made these remarks during a seminar delivered at the launch of the Stellenbosch University Japan Centre (SUJC) in Stellenbosch recently. The SUJC aims to enhance South Africa-Japan relations by promoting, Japanese Studies at SU and encouraging research and teaching collaboration between SA and Japan in all fields of study through bilateral and multilateral higher education networks. The centre will also host educational, cultural and people-to-people events for the broader community.

 Maruyama's seminar was entitled: “Japan and South Africa: Toward A Genuine Partnership".

 The diplomat, who studied economics at the University of Tokyo, said South Africa and Japan need to consider working on three key elements if they want to graduate from a mere partnership to a genuine partnership. These are: common values and goals, mutually vital interests and geopolitical elements.

Common values and goals

Maruyama said South Africa and Japan have a lot in common to deliberate on as partners in the international arena, such as climate change and global governance, but feels there are more pressing matters that need their attention.

 “We need to focus on matters such as disaster relief and the counter-piracy issue which is quite important if we want to see our nations thrive in the ocean economy. The development of Africa is also important and is something SA and Japan are already working on through TICAD (Tokyo International Conference on African Development). But we can do more," he said.

 TICAD is an open multilateral conference framework, co-organised by Japan, the United Nations Development Programme, the World Bank and the African Union Commission, covering essential fields for the sustainable and comprehensive development of African countries with African ownership as its cornerstone.  Since the seventh TICAD gathering was held in 2019, 23 000 people were trained in healthcare, 46 000 in justice, police and security and six million children received quality education.

 Mutually vital interests

The ambassador said to take a further step toward a genuine partnership between SA and Japan, the two countries have to work on areas of vital interest that can be of mutual benefit.

 In terms of South Africa's overall trade “we are importing a lot (7% of mostly materials and critical minerals) from South Africa, but exporting only 3% (mostly of automotive related products) to South Africa.

 “Let's also look at critical minerals. South Africa is a leading producer of palladium, contributing 32% of the global production. Palladium is a critical mineral which is indispensable as 60% of Japan's domestic demand for palladium is for automotive exhaust gas purification catalysts. Platinum groups such as palladium are also used to improve the performance of water electrolysis equipment and hydrogen storage materials necessary to utilise hydrogen energy. "

 Regarding infrastructure, Maruyama expressed Japan's desire to collaborate with South Africa on the construction of a high speed train between Durban and Johannesburg. He alluded to the Mumbai- Ahmedabad high speed rail project in India as a successful collaboration which they embarked on in2018. He added that Japan is also willing to collaborate with SA on the development of the Port of Durban and mentioned as example Japan's support of the Mombasa (Kenya) port development project of which the second phase started in 2015.

 Geopolitical elements

 Maruyama said the two countries need to work together to promote and establish the existing rule of law of a free and open Indo-Pacific.

 “The Indo-Pacific region is facing various challenges such as piracy, terrorism, natural disasters and attempts to change the status quo. Under such circumstances, Japan aims to promote peace, stability and prosperity across the region to make the Indo-Pacific free and open through ensuring rules-based international order, including the rule of law, freedom of navigation and overflight, peaceful settlement of disputes, and promotion of free trade. Japan will cooperate with any country that supports this idea."