The Minister of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation in The Presidency, Mr Collins Chabane, will lead the South African delegation, representing H.E. President Jacob Zuma, to the forthcoming 3rd Africa-Arab Summit that will be held in the City of Kuwait, Kuwait, from 19 to 20 November 2013.
The summit, to be preceded by a Ministerial Meeting on 17 November 2013, will be held under the theme: “Partners in Development and Investment”. The Summit will be hosted by the State of Kuwait and co-organised with the African Union Commission and the League of Arab States.
South Africa’s participation in the summit is premised on the African Union’s strategic objective of ensuring that all global partnerships with Africa should support the African development priorities, while also strengthening Africa’s participation in global affairs as an equal partner.
As such, South Africa will participate at this summit as a member of the African Union and the country believes that the summit comes at an opportune time when the African Continent is seized with redefining her destiny and role in the globalised world.
South Africa welcomes the focus of the summit on economic matters, with the priority areas addressing trade and investment, infrastructure development, transport, energy, communications, agriculture and food security, private sector development and cooperation, enhancing the role of women in development, migration, politics, peace and security.
These priorities are designed to ensure a concrete impact on the lives of the peoples of the two interrelated regions thereby re-affirming the long-standing cooperation between Africa and the Arab world that dates back to 1977.
At the summit, the Heads of State and Government of the African Union and the League of Arab States will undertake a mid-term review on the Joint Action Plan (2011-2016) adopted at the Second Africa-Arab Summit of 2010 and will further adopt the Kuwait Declaration.
South Africa’s relationship with the Arab States remains cordial with ongoing engagements at various political and economic levels that are anchored by the strategic objective of strengthening South-South relations.
Within the states of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC), Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are South Africa’s biggest trading partners. South African companies such as SASOL and MTN, amongst others, have large investments in the Middle East, including in some of the GCC states.
According to 2011 statistics, trade between the GCC and seven sub-Saharan African countries (i.e. South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Uganda and Zambia) amounted to close to €13 billion (USD16.7 billion). The GCC-Africa two-way trade increased from approximately USD2.7 billion in 1990 to about USD6.8 billion in 2008.
Minister Chabane will be supported by Senior Officials from the Department of International Relations and Cooperation as well as the Department of Trade and Industry.
For further information:
Clayson Monyela, Spokesperson for DIRCO
Cell: 082 884 5974
