"Cape Town Conversation important process for Global South...": Former South African President

Nov 26, 2023

Cape Town [South Africa], November 26 : Former South African President Thabo Mbeki emphasized the significance of the Cape Town Conversation, describing it as a crucial process for the Global South. He noted that the event brought together experts familiar with the challenges faced by countries in the South, providing a platform for discussions on 22 different subtopics related to the demands, vision, and future of Southern nations.
"For the global south, the Cape Town conversation has been a very important process because it's actually put together a lot of big brains of people who are very familiar with all of the major challenges facing the countries of the South," Mbeki said while speaking on sidelines of the Cape Town Conversation event.
The South African President said: "So you've had, for one, two, three days, all of these people in one room discussing, as I counted, 22 different subtopics about the demands and the vision and the future and all that of the matters that affect the candles of the South."
He said the event is an important place to originate ideas for change for the benefit of the countries of the South.
He further said: "I was very pleased with the handover from India to Brazil with regard to the leadership of the G20. I'm very glad it was done here because it also reflected that India has done a very good job of leading and chairing the G20..."
'Cape Town Conversation' is taking place from November 24-26 in the coastal city of Cape Town, South Africa.
Cape Town Conversations serves as an annual South Africa-based platform that brings together key stakeholders and new voices. It is designed as a common platform where established and emerging actors convene for a global conversation on contemporary issues of global governance--identifying new challenges, ideating possible solutions and shaping the world order of the future.
Earlier on Sunday, Mbeki said the Cape Town Conversation event's 22 sessions discussed important, relevant questions, including challenges facing the Global South.
The discussions covered topics such as the stance of the Global South on various issues and the contributions the Global South aims to make in G20 processes. Mbeki urged that the richness generated during the event should not be lost but rather become instrumental in addressing the challenges faced by the Global South and fostering positive change in the world.
"The questions discussed during these 22 sessions are very important and relevant. From questions on where the Global South stands on different issues, what inputs does the Global South want to make on G20 processes, and so on," the former South African president said while giving his valedictory address during the Cape Town Conversation event.
He said: "I don't think we should lose the richness that's been generated in the days that we have been here. Let it be part of the instrumentality that helps to change the world to address the challenges of the Global South."