Pretoria – South Africa and China have committed to strengthening cooperation in the area of information and communications technology (ICT) and cyberspace.
“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,” Telecommunications and Postal Services Deputy Minister Prof Hlengiwe Mkhize said.
Deputy Minister Mkhize and the Vice Minister of Cyber Space Administration of the People’s Republic of China, Wang Xiujun, on Saturday concluded a successful South Africa – China Internet Roundtable, in Durban.
The roundtable took the form of a series of public meetings between the delegations where they explored possible areas of cooperation and partnerships. The meeting covered topics that include e-government and cyber security.
Opportunities to incubate ICT small, medium and micro-sized enterprises (SMMEs) were also explored.
“We would like to encourage cooperation between Chinese and South African enterprises to push forward the digital development to benefit the people of both countries,” Xiujun said.
The Deputy Ministers were accompanied by delegations that included representatives of government departments, state-owned companies, the private sector, ICT SMMEs, industry associations, advisory bodies and other government agencies.
The Deputy Ministers witnessed the signing ceremony between the South African Mustek Limited Group 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. – SAnews.gov.za
