Pretoria - International Relations and Cooperation Deputy Minister Nomaindiya Mfeketo will pay official visits to two central Asian countries – Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.
South Africa enjoys cordial relations with both countries, as all three are developing economies and share many similar views on the multilateral fora, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) said on Tuesday.
“The South African government believes that the consolidation of its bilateral relations with these two central Asian countries will assist to achieve some if its main objectives to address the triple challenge of poverty, unemployment and inequality,” said DIRCO.
Deputy Minister Mfeketo’s first stop will be Astana, the capital city of Kazakhstan, from Wednesday to Sunday.
The visit to Kazakhstan will also include a brief stopover in Almaty, the commercial hub of Kazakhstan, to strengthen bilateral and economic relations between South Africa and Kazakhstan.
During the visit, Deputy Minister Mfeketo will co-chair the 5th Round of the South Africa-Kazakhstan Bilateral Political Consultations with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, Akylbek Kamaldinov.
“South Africa’s main objective with the 5th Round of Bilateral Consultations is to strengthen bilateral political and economic relations by intensifying cooperation in trade and investment, and supporting the expansion of cultural and people-to-people interaction between the two countries,” DIRCO said.
Deputy Minister Mfeketo, who will be accompanied by delegations from the Departments of Trade and Industry and Science and Technology, will hold high level meetings with business sector representatives and academia.
The high level meetings will be used to promote South Africa as a destination for trade, investment and tourism, and to explore future academic cooperation and skills exchange.
Kazakhstan has a significant multilateral profile and will, on 1 January 2017, become the first central Asian state to take up a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.
With this in mind, DIRCO said the Deputy Minister’s visit is viewed by both countries as an opportunity to discuss multilateral matters of mutual concern, such as the slow pace of reform of important international institutions such as the UNSC.
Deputy Minister Mfeketo will then proceed to Turkmenistan from 14 – 15 November, where she will meet her counterpart and also pay a courtesy call on the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The visit to Turkmenistan will be used to identify possible areas of cooperation in the energy, mining and agricultural sectors. – SAnews.gov.za
