Federal Councillor Didier Burkhalter signs joint statement on progressive deepening of Swiss-South African bilateral research cooperation
Bern, 20.06.2011 - South Africa's Science and Technology Minister, Ms Naledi Grace Mandisa Pandor will be visiting Switzerland from 20-22 June 2011. This official visit is intended to consolidate relations between the two countries in the areas of science, technology and innovation. Federal Councillor Didier Burkhalter, who heads the Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA) met with Minister Naledi Pandor today in Bern. At this meeting, they signed a joint statement on progressive deepening of Swiss-South African bilateral research cooperation in these areas.
This is the first official visit that the incumbent South African Science and Technology Minister has made to Switzerland. High-level policy discussions were held today in Bern. Federal Councillor Didier Burkhalter received Minister Naledi Pandor for a courtesy call and the two dignitaries then signed a joint statement on progressive deepening of Swiss-South African bilateral research cooperation.
This joint statement recognises cooperation achievements, particularly in the Swiss South African Joint Research Programme (SSAJRP), which was launched following signature of a bilateral agreement in 2007. At the same time, the joint statement expresses a political willingness to deepen long-term research cooperation between the two countries. Finally, both partners have agreed to consider possible expansion of energy-related topics currently considered to be research priorities (especially renewable energy, energy security and clean technology).
The programme of visits of the South African delegation is quite varied. This morning, the State Secretary for Education and Research, Mr Mauro Dell'Ambrogio, and Minister Pandor jointly inaugurated the "Swiss South African Biotech Business Development Summer Camp" in Geneva. This summer camp is a promising science-to-market initiative sponsored by the SSAJRP, the bilateral programme between the Swiss Confederation and South Africa. The delegation then visited the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL). State Secretary Dell'Ambrogio later invited the South African delegation to a working lunch with Ambassador Martin Dahinden, who heads the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Ambassador Beatrice Maser Mallor, who heads the Economic Cooperation and Development Division of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), Walter Steinlin, President of the Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI), and Marcel Tanner, Director of Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH).
On Tuesday morning, the South African delegation will pay a visit to the University of Basel and Swiss TPH. In the afternoon, they will attend a presentation of research projects and visit the laboratory of the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG) in Dübendorf. On Wednesday, the delegation will visit several private companies as well as the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva.
This is the first official visit that the South African Science and Technology Minister Pandor has made to Switzerland within the framework of the Swiss-South African bilateral research cooperation programme, making this visit an important milestone. The high-level policy meeting, the signature of the joint statement and the direct exchanges with the heads of Swiss education and research institutions serve to further intensify and deepen bilateral relations between the two countries.
South Africa is among the non-European countries listed as priority countries in the Federal Council Dispatch on the Promotion of Education, Research and Innovation for 2008-2011. The bilateral programme launched to encourage research cooperation with South Africa (SSAJRP) has achieved very positive results: 16 joint research projects have received funding and are broadly established in the research landscapes of both countries: ten different Swiss higher education and research institutions work with a comparable number of institutions on the South African side. Sixty applications for faculty and student exchanges have been approved under the SSAJRP thus far. In February of this year, a joint call for seed funding was also launched for research projects involving partners from industry. An international panel of experts will now review the 11 applications received in response to this call.
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