The Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services has strengthened ties with the People’s Republic of China.
The deputy minister, Prof Hlengiwe Mkhize and the vice-minister of cyber space administration of the People’s Republic of China Wang Xiujun have concluded a successful South Africa-China Internet Roundtable in Durban.
The roundtable took the form of a series of public meetings between the delegations wherein they explored possible areas of cooperation and partnerships. Opportunities to incubate ICT SMMEs were also explored.
The Deputy Ministers witnessed the signing ceremony between the South African Mustek and the Chinese Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable Joint Stock Limited Group. The two companies are establishing a cable trading company that is based in Johannesburg called Yangtze Optics Africa Holdings. The company will supply a variety of cables including telecommunications fibre cables from production facilities in Durban.
Huawei also participated in Internet Roundtable where Huawei MD of Enterprise Business Group SA, Du Min, spoke about focusing on ICT infrastructure and a system for a better connected South Africa.
“The evolution in the ICT industry has shown us amazing possibilities, we saw it grow from mechanisation, electrification and automation, now it is just a matter of connecting ‘things’ and have them communicate with each other and with us. This is what we call the 4th industrial revolution,” says Min.
The Deputy Ministers concluded with a bilateral meeting. The meeting focused on strengthening ties between the two governments in the area of ICT and cyberspace. It covered topics that include e-government and cyber security.
Strategies of encouraging safe practices online were explored during the bilateral.
“We need to find ways of analysing data to help us improve the protection of the vulnerable people online, focusing on women and the youth,” says Prof Mkhize.
“We would like to encourage the cooperation between Chinese and South African enterprises to push forward the digital development to benefit the people of both countries,” said Wang.
The two countries committed to strengthening cooperation in the area of ICT and cyberspace.
