"Brazil and South Africa, bound together" - Sérgio França Danese, Brazilian Ambassador to South Africa (Pretoria News, South Africa, 4/26/2021)

Having just presented my credentials as the new Brazilian Ambassador to South Africa - what a great honour and privilege it is to represent my country in this great Nation! -, let me share here some ideas about the Brazilian-South African relations as we advance in this second year of a world struck by the COVID-19 pandemic.

When talking about these relations, the first element to keep in mind on our part is that the Brazilian people are very proud of their African heritage and of the friendship that closely binds us to so many African countries, starting with South Africa, a dear partner of ours. We are also proud to have sided clearly, after the return of democracy in Brazil in 1985, with the forces, led by Nelson Mandela and so many other courageous leaders, that finally overcome apartheid and launched and consolidated the democratic South Africa that we welcomed enthusiastically as a distinguished member of the world community and a partner of excellence to a country such as Brazil. Our commitment to strong and active relations with South Africa is a key in our foreign policy and a cornerstone of our African diplomacy, a state policy of longstanding of which Brazilians are particularly proud (Brazil has 34 embassies in the whole of Africa).

Indeed, Brazil and South Africa have much in common as unwavering developing countries, as vibrant democracies, as vigorous international and regional actors, as active members of BRICS, IBSA and the G-20, and as neighbors bound together by the South Atlantic.

We also share many challenges, well aggravated by this pandemic that is forcing us to find new imaginative ways of pursuing our national objectives and dealing with our national urgencies. Promoting sustainable development, protecting our huge and varied environment and natural wealth, creating jobs, strengthening our educational system, fostering human and social rights, erasing huge social and regional inequalities, curbing violence - especially against women, children and minorities -, and many others, are but some of these challenges that we face and around which we can and must exchange our experiences, cooperate and build solutions together.

When we think about all those close links that associate our two countries, it becomes easier to realize how much we should care about consolidating and fostering such a meaningful relationship. It is not an exaggeration to say that we stand before the world and before our own regions as beams that attract much attention to what and how we are doing to tackle those tasks. Other developing countries, other democracies under consolidation, other peoples fighting poverty and inequality look at us as examples and inspiration for their own contest.

With these strong identities and challenges, and with a shared interest in world matters, our two countries must work together not only to reinforce our standing in our own regions and the whole world, but also to strengthen and broaden our bilateral relations, which are strong, but still have so much unexplored potential to be developed.

Many fields lie open before us to make these relations a true strategic partnership, as we defined it ten years ago. And this must be done with unequivocal effects and benefits on the daily lives of our peoples, on our economies, on our social development, on our technological and innovation achievements, on our standing as modern societies. We must show that our strategic partnership and our belonging to such important international geometries such as BRICS, IBAS and the G-20 have a clear and positive impact on the well-being of our peoples, and no field is better for accomplishing that aim than the strengthening of our bilateral ties. They create economic activity, through trade and investments, technical and technological development, tourism, educational and academic exchanges, joint research and technological and industrial development, and agricultural development that is so important for countries with so vast territories and a significant demography.

Brazil is prepared to work even harder with South Africa in order to achieve concrete objectives in our cooperation, especially in the areas of sustainable development and environment, energy - with a focus on renewable energies -, agriculture, health, innovation, space and defense, among others. With this view, we are preparing for a new session of the bilateral joint commission for cooperation, to be hosted by Brazil. We also invite you to join us in the many activities that the Brazilian Embassy is organizing for the next months to come, such as an online seminar on agritech, an online seminar on space industry and discussions on the use of biofuels. We are also launching a cross-incubation programme on agritech, aiming at fostering innovation in both countries.

Brazil is prepared and very much willing to work closely with South Africa within BRICS, IBSA, the G-20 and the various multilateral fora where our countries share so many interests. We are following with the greatest interest the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area, which adds so much interest to the South African partnership as this country is bound to be one of its key leaders and articulators.

I am sure that this broad vision is strongly held by the South African Government as well as by the South African people. It will be my honour to lead the Brazilian Embassy in helping consolidate and further strengthen this bridge over the South Atlantic that we have been building over the past 27 years and in bringing our peoples even closer together, as their friendship and mutual admiration command us to do.