JOHANNESBURG- International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor have arrived in New York, where she is leading South Africa’s delegation to the 74th session of the United General Assembly(UNGA).
The delegation includes the Minister in the Presidency Jackson Mthembu, Minister of Health Dr Zweli Mkhize and Minister of Environment Barbara Creecy among others, for a week-long programme that will culminate in her delivery of the country statement to the General Assembly next Saturday.
This year’s theme is, “Galvanising multilateral efforts for poverty eradication, quality education, climate action and inclusion.”
Delivering a speech on arrival on Sunday, Pandor according to African News Agency she said: “I think South Africa remains a very attractive country for investors … we will call on them to respond to the President’s [Cyril Ramaphosa] invitation to his annual investment conference …
“We have had, I think, very positive success in the last year … we’d like to see even more from the meeting in November this year.”
“We are doing all that we can in order to build appropriate incentives for those who wish to invest in our country.
“We also have made a very big push, for example, on changes to our immigration law in order to allow more and more tourists access to South Africa because we believe tourism is a big growth area for our country.”
Pandor will also attend a reception hosted for heads of delegation by United States 45th President Donald Trump.
Her visit coincides with South Africa working hard to improve its international standing after a spate of domestic incidents that inundated South Africa’s economic hub Johannesburg earlier this month. The deadly attacks were mostly directed at foreign nationals in the southern African nation.
Dr Pandor was tasked to lead the S A delegation to the 74th UNGA because Ramaphosa chose to stay at home to tackle prominent matters that include the escalating gender-based violence, the restoration of order, peace and stability in areas affected by the public unrest, and to oversee initiatives to turn around the South African economy.
