13 July 2007
South African Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad, and Deputy Finance
Minister Jabulani Moleketi, arrived in Mexico City, Mexico ahead of bilateral
political, economic and trade relations with the Mexican Undersecretary of
Foreign Affairs Maria de Lourdes Aranda Bezaury scheduled for Friday, 13 July
2007.
Deputy Ministers Pahad and Moleketi on Thursday, 12 July 2007 concluded the
first official visit to Panama City by a South African delegation where they
both held a series of political and economic discussions.
Deputy Ministers Pahad and Moleketi are visiting Latin America within the
context of South Africa's priority to consolidate bilateral political, economic
and trade relations with Mexico.
Issues on the agenda of discussions between Deputy Minister Pahad and
undersecretary Bezaury in Mexico are expected to include, among others:
* the status of bilateral political and economic relations between both
countries
* regional affairs in Latin America and the Caribbean and Southern African
Development Community (SADC) and the African Union
* multilateral co-operation in the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement and
the Group of 77 + China.
Deputy Ministers Pahad and Moleketi are expected to depart from Mexico on
Saturday, 14 July 2007 ahead of their visit to Spain.
Deputy Ministers Pahad and Moleketi conclude first official South African
government visit to Panama
Deputy Ministers Pahad and Moleketi on Thursday, 12 July 2007 paid the first
official visit by a South African government delegation to Panama City.
Deputy Ministers Pahad and Moleketi held joint discussions with Ricardo
Duran, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nilda Quijano, General Manager of
the Colon Free Zone and Director of the National Institute of Culture of
Panama, Reinier Rodriguez.
Deputy Minister Pahad held further discussions with Carlos Raul Moreno of
the Panama Maritime Authority, Deputy Minister on Sugarcane and Ethanol
Production, Manuel Jose Paredes, and Deputy Minister of Justice and Government
on Co-operation Severino Mejia.
Deputy Minister Moleketi held discussions with his counterpart Deputy
Minister of Finance Orcila Constable and members of the National Institute of
Sports and Members of the Panamanian Football Federation.
Deputy Ministers Pahad and Moleketi briefed members of the Panamanian
government on the internal developments within South Africa including
achievements and challenges in the fight against poverty, unemployment and
underdevelopment.
The South African delegation explained that for the first time in many
years, Africa is showing some positive economic growth. However, despite some
positive developments, Africa is the only continent that continues to get
poorer and despite commitments of increased aid by the Group of 8 (G-8) Africa
will not achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Both sides agreed that the
developed world had a moral responsibility to ensure that aid commitments were
met since an Africa that did not achieve the Millennium Development Goals would
impact negatively on the rest of the world.
Deputy Minister Moleketi also addressed the matter of efforts to upgrade
South African infrastructure to enable it to be more responsive in a rapidly
globalising world and progress towards preparations for the 2010 Fifa Soccer
World Cup.
The South African delegation received a thorough briefing from their
Panamanian hosts of their domestic situation including efforts to combat money
laundering as well as drug trafficking and an assessment of developments within
the region. The South African and Panamanian delegations agreed that the
sharing of information, and related matters, in this regard could be a
potential area of co-operation between both countries.
The South African and Panamanian delegations also discussed bilateral
political and economic discussions between South Africa and Panama. Since this
was the first official government delegation to visit Panama both sides agreed
that this will be followed by reciprocal visits of both government and private
sector delegations so that areas of co-operation between both countries could
be investigated including maritime co-operation, the transfer of skills in the
mining sector and biotechnology. Both sides agreed that there were many
similarities in the challenges experienced by both countries and that areas for
mutually beneficial co-operation did exist.
The delegation visited the Panama Canal Authority, the largest of its kind
in the world, where they were briefed on plans to expand the Canal by 2014 to
accommodate larger carriers and increasing maritime traffic through the Canal.
The Panamanian delegation expressed the view that it would like to investigate
areas of co-operation with South Africa in maritime matters and Deputy
Ministers Moleketi and Pahad agreed to brief the relevant authorities in South
Africa of this request.
The Panamanian delegation also elaborated on the strategic importance of the
Panama Canal since it is located between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and as
such has easy access to the United States of America as well as the South and
Latin American markets.
Deputy Minister Pahad also briefed the Panamanian delegation of developments
within the SADC region, the African Union including the outcomes of the Grand
Debate on African political and economic integration, and conflict resolution
and peacekeeping in Africa, inter alia, the Democratic Republic of Congo,
Burundi, Cote d'Ivoire, Sudan and Darfur, Somalia, Western Sahara and
Zimbabwe.
The Panamanian delegation expressed support of South Africa's efforts to
contribute towards peacekeeping and post-conflict resolution in Africa and
welcomed efforts by Africa to hold multi-party elections, implement good
governance and democracy and maintain peace, security and stability on the
continent.
Deputy Minister Pahad also briefed the Panamanian government of the
forthcoming African Diaspora Summit to be hosted by South Africa in 2008 within
the context of the decision by the African Union that the African Diaspora be
considered the 6th region of the African Union. The South African delegation
also highlighted that the Conference would also be held to consider how the
African Diaspora could be mobilised to contribute positively towards African
developmental challenges.
The Panamanian delegation indicated that they fully supported this
initiative and that a government delegation would attend the forthcoming
regional preparatory meeting in The Bahamas.
Deputy Minister Pahad also briefed his Panamanian counterpart on South
Africa's position on the Middle East, Iraq and the situation in Iran. Both
delegations agreed that a just and long-lasting solution to the situation
between Israel and Palestine remained the key to achieving peace, security and
stability in the region.
Both sides briefed each other and reviewed their first six months as
non-permanent members of the Security Council. Both South Africa and Panama
assumed their tenure on 1 January 2007 and will continue until 31 December
2008. South Africa and Panama agreed to continue co-operation within the
Security Council.
Both countries also evaluated progress towards the comprehensive reform of
the United Nations including the Security Council and financial
institutions.
Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
13 July 2007
Source: SAPA
