Pretoria - South Africa and Spain are set to deepen their trade relations when Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Marius Fransman meets with his Spanish counterpart Juan Y ¤ez-Barnuevo in Pretoria this week.
The two are expected to meet for a two-day consultation scheduled to take place from Tuesday.
The Department of International Relations and Cooperation said South Africa-Spain Annual Consultations serve as the main forum for coordinating bilateral relations between the two countries.
It was established in terms of a Memorandum of Understanding signed in December 2000 and provides the legal framework for bilateral consultations and cooperation.
"South Africa and Spain enjoy cordial relations with regular political interaction at all levels of government and, promising trade and investments relations. The two countries 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," it said.
Furthermore, the two countries also share a common belief that United Nations (UN) governance should be restructured particularly the Security Council and global financial architecture.
Although bilateral economic relations between the two countries were affected by the global financial and economic crisis and mirrored the trend in trade relations with the majority of South Africa's main trading partners in Europe, potential demand exists for South African goods in Spain.
"The Spanish market will remain one of the most promising and rapidly developing markets of the EU, and of major interest for South Africa".
