Pretoria - South Africa and Spain met on Thursday in Pretoria to review the status of their bilateral relations.
The meeting, which was co-chaired by International Relations and Cooperation Deputy Minister Marius Fransman and his Spanish counterpart Gonzalo de Benito Secades, agreed to further strengthen the bilateral relations and explore cooperation in various areas such as trade and investment.
With Spain being advanced in the field of renewable energy, mainly wind and solar power, Fransman told the media after the talks that they looked at how the two countries could cooperate especially in the skills transfer, including people to people and institutional interactions in the industry.
The meeting also discussed strengthening relations in the field of infrastructure. South Africa used the opportunity to call for Spain companies to explore investment in the area, adding that SA is a gateway partner in the African growth story. About seven of the world’s largest construction companies are Spanish.
The meeting also touched on the global peace and the reform of the international institutions as well as the promotion of the African agenda.
Franmans says the “talks were very fruitful” and have affirmed that their partnership is “strategic.”
Without mentioning country names, Benito Secades said the meeting also looked at how South Africa and Spain “can share their experiences of political transition to a democratic dispensation through an inclusive political dialogue.” He added that the two countries also shared values of freedom, human rights, and democracy.
South Africa and Spain share cordial relations and both are deeply committed to multilateralism with Spain having supported South Africa's bid to become a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2011-2012.
Benito Secades said they still share the common belief with SA that the United Nations governance should be restructured particularly the Security Council to global financial architecture.
Fears SA may lose citrus exporters
The meeting took place amid fears that South Africa’s citrus exporters may loose their lucrative access to the EU, which Spain is part of, because of the new regulation which governs the citrus black spot (CBS).
CBS is a fungal disease marked by dark, speckled or blotches on the rids of the fruit.
Fransman said “scientists have investigated the matter and have found no imminent danger related to consumption of the citrus fruits.”
The European Commission Services introduced a threshold of five (5) interceptions of CBS for South African citrus earlier this year.
This decision could have a substantial negative impact on South Africa’s citrus industry, South Africa’s exports to the EU and on the country’s economy.
The South African citrus industry stands to lose R3 billion worth of exports to the EU if market access is revoked.
Close to 40% of fresh citrus fruit is exported to the region, annually. Spain, Italy, Germany and Greece are the primary exporters of citrus during the peak season.
The matter is likely to be discussed during next weeks’ SA-EU summit to be held in Pretoria. - SAnews.gov.za
