Motlanthe jets off to US

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Cape Town - Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe is set to leave for the US on a working visit with whistle-stops scheduled for Washing DC, New York and Chicago.

Fransman said the visit was at the invitation of US Vice-President Joseph Biden, who visited SA during last year's opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup. During that visit, he was hosted by Motlanthe for a bilateral meeting.

The deputy minister said that bilateral relations between the two countries were on a steady rise. Trade relations had grown in "leaps and bounds" despite a decline from R124 billion in 2008 to R82 billion the subsequent year, projecting a decline of 34 percent due to the global economic meltdown.

Fransman said there had been a marked increase in "high level interactions" between President Jacob Zuma, his US counter-part Barack Obama, their respective deputies and foreign ministers who met in December for the inaugural Strategic Dialogue in Washington DC.

The visit would promote "bilateral political and economic relations" with the US in support of the country's five top priorities and its foreign policy objectives, he said.

It would also centre on discussions around on political situations in countries such as Ivory Coast, Somalia, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Haiti, Egypt and the Middle East Peace Process.

Fransman added that the talks would also be on promoting bilateral trade and investment relations, SA's rural development in line with the New Growth Path.

"One of the major highlights in SA-US relations is the identification and support by the US government of SA's domestic priorities and aligning them to US assistance programmes. In this regard, our cooperation exists in the areas of health through the PEPFAR Programme and police training," he said.