Pretoria - South Africa and Denmark are to advance North-South relations by consolidating bilateral political, economic and trade relations.
South African Foreign Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma will on Friday hold bilateral discussions with Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moller at the Union Buildings.
According to the Department of Foreign Affairs, Minister Moller is scheduled to arrive in South Africa on Wednesday and will stay until Monday.
Issues on the agenda for discussions between Ministers Dlamini Zuma and Moller on Friday will include the forthcoming Nordic - African Foreign Ministers' Informal Meeting.
A briefing on developments in Europe and Africa, including the European Union and the African Union and SADC will also be on the agenda, the department said.
According to the department, peacekeeping and conflict resolution in Africa including in the Great Lakes region, Sudan, Somalia and Zimbabwe and the Middle East will also be discussed.
Issues of global interest including the financial crisis, climate change and the reformation of global institutions of governance will also dominate the agenda.
"Ministers Dlamini Zuma and Moller will also sign a Declaration of Intent between the two countries on conclusion of their discussions," the department said.
While in South Africa, Minister Moller will also open a wind energy seminar with Minerals and Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica and deliver an address on the "Broad Security Concept including Climate and Energy" at the University of Pretoria African Dialogue Guest Lectures Series.
Denmark is one of the largest donor countries (relative to their GDP), contributing one percent of its GNP to development assistance.
In 2003, the Danish Government launched a number of important initiatives within the field of development assistance with a view to making Danish assistance more targeted and more effective in terms of impact.
A new policy document was launched, "A world of difference", giving the Danish Government's general position on development co-operation matters.
The document singles out the various sectors and themes, which will be prioritised in the future Danish assistance.
Another important initiative was the decentralisation of the administration development assistance to the embassies in the most important countries with whom Denmark is co-operating, including South Africa.
In August 2008, the Danish Foreign Ministry and DANIDA publicised its latest strategy called "Priorities of the Danish Government for Danish Development Assistance: An Overview of the Development Assistance Budget 2009 to 2013.
In the document, the Danish Government sets out its strategy as far as development aid is concerned.
It identifies 15 countries which will be receiving aid. It furthermore pledges 3.3 billion Danish Krone for development assistance to Africa.
The money will be dispersed to eight countries in the form of 11 programmes ranging from promotion of good governance to water sanitation.
The countries who will be receiving assistance are Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique, Burkina Faso, Zambia, Mali and Niger.
