Pretoria - Bilateral cooperation, economic relations, the recent referendum in Sudan and the political impasse in Ivory Coast will feature high on the agenda of discussions between President Jacob Zuma and his Ugandan counterpart, Yoweri Museveni.
Zuma will roll out the red carpet for Museveni, who will be treated to the religious ceremonial guard and 21-gun salute in the flower-bedecked Union Buildings this morning.
Museveni, accompanied by several cabinet ministers and a business delegation, is in the country for a state visit aimed at exploring investment and trade opportunities between the two countries.
The meeting will see the signing of a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in public works and infrastructure development, food safety, animal and plant health measures.
The presidents will also review progress on areas of bilateral co-operation - including agriculture, trade, investment, infrastructure development, water, energy and social development.
They are further expected to share and exchange views on political developments in the region, especially the situation in Ivory Coast and referendum in Southern Sudan.
South Africa is under renewed pressure to play a prominent role in the Ivory Coast disputed elections. This after the country successfully brokered the Pretoria Accord on the Peace Process in Cote d'Ivoire in 2005.
Uganda is strategically positioned because it is one of nine countries sharing a border with Sudan, and serves as a gateway to Southern Sudan's capital, Juba.
Laurent Gbagbo, who is still clinging to power after a disputed November 28 election, is widely recognised to have lost to Alassane Ouattara. Gbagbo still maintains control of the army, much of the cocoa sector and state bodies.
Ouattara was proclaimed winner of the UN certified poll by the electoral commission and congratulated by world leaders, but the pro-Gbagbo constitutional council cancelled hundreds of thousands of votes in Ouattara strongholds to reverse his win, alleging fraud and sparking international outrage.
Museveni's visit follows that to Uganda in March 2010 of President Zuma, who called for closer economic cooperation - both on a government level, through establishing a joint trade committee and in the private sector, through forming a joint business council.
