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Portfolio Committee Briefing
Science and Technology cooperation
agreements between SA and
France, Switzerland,
Saudi Arabia, and Mexico
Mr Mmboneni Muofhe
Some stats on DST international
engagements
• Number of Agreements
– Overseas bilateral: 34
• Active: 23
– Africa bilateral: 19
• Active 10
– OVERALL TOTAL: 53
– TOTAL ACTIVE:33
Why engage in international
cooperation
• Research is too costly for one country to bear alone
• Many problems requiring scientific knowledge and expertise do
not respect borders
• Scientific talent and world-class facilities are located in many
nations around the globe
• Certain scientific problems require access to particular
geographic sites
• The growing appetite and need for big science – mega projects
• Science diplomacy
Modalities of Cooperation
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Joint calls
Policy dialogues
Student and staff exchanges
Competitive calls
Workshops and conferences
SOUTH AFRICA – FRANCE
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
French System Overview
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Highly educated population
Good R&D intensity
Increasing annual R&D spend
Leading exporter of nuclear technology
Amongst the top knowledge generators
Programmes with French Government
• Technical Expert seconded to TIA – innovation
management
• SAFeTI research programme – information and
communication technologies (CSIR)
• SAFeWATER research programme – water-related
research (WRC)
• Research exchanges – nanotechnology related,
HCD and student training
Programmes with French Government
• Call for research proposals – 72 projects and 18
networking activities (R10 471 418)
Life sciences; Engineering; New materials; Health
sciences; Physics
• F’SATI (Frenco South African Technical Institute) –
training in electrical and electronic engineering
(French Embassy = R5.1 million – 28 B.Tech, 63 M.Tech,
14 D.Tech, 8 PhDs and 2 Post-Docs)
• Free access to synchrotron Soleil
Impact of French cooperation
• Trilateral cooperation – laser research pilot
project (South Africa, France and Senegal)
• ERA-NET AFRICA – increased cooperation
and coordination through the networking of
research programmes
• ICEMASA – setting up an international joint
laboratory on Marine Sciences
Future Plans with France
• The South African-French Seasons – to
celebrate achievements and to stimulate
interest in young scientists (French season
in SA – Jul-Nov-2012; South African Season
in France – Jul-Nov 2013)
• Joint Committee meeting – early 2013 – to
map the way forward
SOUTH AFRICA –
SWITZERLAND
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Swiss System Overview
• World leader in spending for R&D,
publications and patents per capita
• One of top three countries in environmental
sciences publications
• Prominent in biosciences research
• A strong industrial base
Strength of the Swiss System
• Very good university sector – strong
academic output (people and publications)
and impact
• Economy is modern, very specialised and
service-oriented
• Leader in biotechnology sector within Europe
Programmes with Swiss Government
• Research Programme (2008) – R84 million;
16 projects
• Biotech Business Development – focus on
young career scientists – encourage
innovation under the Science to Market
(S2M) collaborating instrument
• Seed funding call (2011) – industry-oriented
projects; 9 projects – R7,7 million
Impact of Swiss cooperation
• Bioeconomy – a first pharmaceutical plant to
manufacture Active Pharmaceutical
Ingredients (APIs) for Anti-Retroviral
Medicines in South Africa
• Human Capital Development:
– 10 students attended a Bio-entrepreneurship
School;
– 8 scholarships awarded for a Bio-entrepreneur
programme in Switzerland
Future Plans with Switzerland
• Prolong research projects till end 2012
• A wrap-up workshop to celebrate success
and to take stock (November 2012)
• Integrate greentech and cleantech into the
general cooperation framework
• New call for research proposals in 2012
SOUTH AFRICA –
SAUDI ARABIA
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Saudi Arabian System Overview
• High standard of economic development - but
weak in most S&T indicators
• Most R&D and S&T in public and university sectors
• Lack human resources for S&T development
• Favourable number of patents compared to other
oil monarchies
• Invest 0.2% of GNP in R&D
• Focus on energy, water, agriculture, environment,
computational science and engineering
Programmes with Saudi Arabia
• Current focus on institutional collaboration
• Joint Committee meeting to be established
Agree on areas of cooperation and appropriate
mechanisms for implementation
• Collaboration between universities
Engineering research capabilities in Radar and
Electronic Defence, including a research clusters
and HCD programmes
Future Plans with Saudi Arabia
• Interest to collaborate in astronomy (training
of students in South Africa)
• Strengthen institutional linkages
• Possible fact-finding mission from Saudi
Arabia
SOUTH AFRICA – MEXICO
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Mexican System Overview
• Efforts focused on macroeconomic stability and
growth
• Little incentive to innovate / invest in R&D
• R&D intensity one of the lowest in the OECD
• Gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD) is
0.5% of GDP – real GERD growth is robust
• Public institutions and universities important R&D
role-players
• Business finances 47% of R&D
Mexican System Overview
• Patents and publications performance is low
• International linkages are well developed
(especially with USA)
• Technology exports grew strongly
• Innovation policy provides most favourable tax
treatments in OECD
Mexican System Overview
• Key challenges for innovation:
Education levels; competitive and regulatory
environment; low budget allocation and weak
political commitment; insufficient infrastructure;
weak intellectual property rights culture
Programmes with Mexico
• Collaboration at an institutional level
(especially universities)
Plant protection; zoological gardens; biological
control; astronomy; immunology; engineering;
optics; genetics; medicine; infectious diseases;
biochemistry and molecular biology
• Inter-government agreement signed in April
2010
Future Plans with Mexico
• Encourage institutional collaboration
• Jointly identified research and development
projects not taken place due to the lack of
funding
Conclusion
Dankie
Enkosi
Ha khensa
Re a leboga
Ro livhuwa
Siyabonga
Siyathokoza
Thank you