It is indeed an honour for me to welcome you and your delegation to South Africa.
Your presence here is yet another example of the degree to which South Africa has rejoined the mainstream of international relations.
This development was, in turn, made possible by the national transfomation that has taken place in South Africa during the past five years. This process lead to the adoption of our first truly democratic and inclusive Constitution in 1993 and to the democratic elections that took place on 27 April last year.
Since then we have had a Government of National Unity that , for the first time in our history represents all South Africans.
What has occurred in South Africa during this period has been described as a miracle - but such miracles do not take place without a great deal of hard work, hard negotiation and good will.
If this miracle is to mean anything in the long run, we must now transform the successes that we have achieved in the constitutional sphere into successes in the economic and social spheres.
Economic growth, in turn, necessitates the adoption and implementation of the right fiscal, monetary, trade and labour policies. We must work toward an economy that is efficient, open and competitive.
It is within this framework that the visit of your delegation has such significance. The accent of your delegation lies in the improvement of our commercial and financial relations. I am sure that during your visit you will discover many opportunities to expand these relations. You will discover high quality products that you can buy from us at competitive prices and you will , no doubt, also unearth possibilities for your products in our market. You will also see that there are important areas of our economy where Belgian investors can be assured of a good return.
In this manner - by increasing the economic and commercial inter-action between our countries - Belgium can help us to achieve our goal of stimulating economic growth and of consolidation the successes of our new society.
We look forward to further expanding and strengthening the relations between South Africa and Belgium in all spheres. I have no doubt that Your Highness's visit will make an important contribution to the achievement of this goal.
It is in this spirit that I would like to propose a toast to His Majesty, King Albert of the Belgium's and to Your Royal Highness.