Pretoria - South Africa will continue to strengthen relations with Azerbaijan, International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said.
Speaking at a joint press briefing with Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Wednesday, the Minister said she had paid a courtesy call on President Ilham Aliyev.
“We reiterated the commitment of the South African government to strengthen relations with Azerbaijan, founded on our joint desire to pursue areas of cooperation for mutual benefit,” she said.
The Minister is currently on a two-day working visit to Azerbaijan.
“We just had the first meeting since we signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Regular Diplomatic Consultations in Pretoria, South Africa, in February 2014. I am encouraged by our mutual recognition of the importance of values of the centrality of multilateralism.
“We are committed to strengthening bilateral relations through dialogue and through exchange of knowledge in different areas of expertise. To this end, we have agreed to form a Joint Commission for Cooperation (JCC),” said Minister Nkoana-Mashabane.
The Minister expressed her satisfaction that the sectors pursued by both countries will provide an opportunity to grow their trade and investment portfolio and show tangible results, reflective of sound political relations.
“We agreed that there is scope for cooperation between our two countries in areas such as energy, skills development, defence and aviation. Our engagement today was both valuable and productive.
“We have managed to discuss a number of issues related to critical areas in our bilateral relations and in the interests of our respective countries, as well as areas of mutual interest in regional and global affairs.”
South Africa, said the Minister, looks forward to further engagements in the pursuit of common goals of collaboration. – SAnews.gov.za
