The Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Mr Alvin Botes, will undertake a Working Visit to the Republic of Türkiye from 29 – 03 November 2022, where he is expected to co-chair Bilateral Political Consultations with the Türkiysh Deputy Minister, Mr Sedat Önal.
It is envisaged that the visit will enhance political and economic relations and deepen understanding on regional and multilateral issues.
The visit by Deputy Minister Botes to Türkiye will also serve as a preparatory meeting for the scheduled incoming visit by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye to South Africa.
Minister Naledi Pandor extended an official invitation to Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu to pay an official visit to South Africa on a mutually agreed date.
Türkiye and South Africa are strategic partners and have elevated the structured engagement between the two countries to a Bi-National Commission (BNC). An agreement to elevate the relations to a BNC at the level of Deputy President (South Africa) and Prime Minister (Türkiye), respectively, was signed in Türkiye on 7 June 2012 and ratified by the Türkiysh Parliament in July 2015 and the South African Parliament in February 2020.
Türkiye remains a key investment partner for South Africa and has already invested in several projects with direct capital investment estimated at about R156.80 million over the past decade. During the Investment Conference hosted in March 2022 by President Cyril Ramaphosa, Defy, owned by the Türkiysh-based company Arçelik, declared a R317 million pledge towards its goods manufacturing plant in the province of KwaZulu Natal. In September 2022 Türkiye was the single largest country contributor at the Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) Expo, with 25 companies this year, doubling the space it had in 2018.
Whilst in Türkiye, the Deputy Minister will also meet with the Chamber of Commerce in Istanbul and will hold roundtable engagements for the enhancement of economic relations between the two countries.
