Pretoria - Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma has met with European Union (EU) Commissioner Louis Michel during the South Africa-European Union Ministerial Troika meeting to discuss conflict hotspots in Africa.
Meeting in Cape Town on Friday, the pair was expected to discuss among other issues, some of the burning conflict hot spots in Africa, including Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zimbabwe.
Also participating in the talks were Minister of Trade and Industry Mandisi Mpahlwa and Environmental Affairs and Tourism Marthinus Van Schalkwyk as well as the Deputy Minister of Finance Nhlanhla Musa Nene.
The importance of the meeting is further emphasised by the fact that the Czech Republic currently occupies the Presidency of the EU.
Director General in the Department of Foreign Affairs (DG) Dr Ayanda Ntsaluba on Wednesday said the meeting would focus on trying to work through the Trade Development and Cooperation Agreement (TDCA) and the implementation of the new chapters.
"Secondly, there is the difficult issue of the economic partnership agreements that must be dealt with," he said.
The Director General said there had been much discussion going on about encouraging the EU to support the institutions on the continent, especially in the area of supporting the peace architecture of the continent.
Dr Ntsaluba highlighted that the EU was currently the biggest contributor to the African Union (AU) Peace Facility.
Minister Dlamini Zuma will co-chair this 8th Ministerial meeting between South Africa and the EU with a view to further strengthening South Africa's strategic cooperation with the EU, as well as to address African and global issues and concerns.
On the agenda at the Ministerial Troika meeting is the EU-Southern African Development Community (SADC) Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) negotiations; the Joint Africa-EU Strategy; the 2nd South Africa - EU Summit later in the year; the global financial crisis and its impact on the developing world; and the Environment and Climate Change.
Furthermore, the Ministerial Troika will also discuss a range of African and global peace and security issues, including the Democratic Republic of Congo and Great Lakes situation; Chad and Sudan, Somalia, the Middle East Peace Process and Zimbabwe.
Currently, the EU is the world's largest trading bloc and generates 30 percent of global Gros Domestic Product (GDP) and 20 percent of global trade flows.
It is also the world's biggest aid donor to poor and developing countries, contributing approximately half of global aid. In 2007 South Africa's exports to the EU totalled R152.6 billion.
According to the department, the EU is also ranked as South Africa's number one export region for 2007 and Europe remains the principal source of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in South Africa, accounting for around 80 percent of total FDI in 2005.
