Premier Masualle and German Federal State Deputy Prime Minister Wenzel agree on cooperation between the two Provinces to improve socio-economic status in the Eastern Cape
The Provincial Government of the Eastern Cape and the Government of the German Federal State of Lower Saxony have today 20 October 2015 signed a Joint Declaration of Intent in Bhisho to foster socio-economic development, foreign investment, and cooperation in areas of technology, sport, HIV/AIDS and tourism in their respective Provinces.The Premier Mr. Phumulo Masualle and Deputy Prime Minister of Lower Saxony Mr. Stefan Wenzel signed the Declaration to renew the Twinning Agreement and to celebrate the 20 years of successful bilateral relations between their provinces.
The two provinces have been maintaining cordial relations and carrying out joint projects since 1995 and have today declared their intention to further strengthen this cooperation.
In the declaration, the two Premiers committed their governments to cooperation at Provincial and Local Governments levels as well as at non-governmental organisations (NGO) level. On economy, they jointly agreed to promote fair and sustainable global development, particularly in Lower Saxony and the Eastern Cape.
They welcome twinning arrangements at local government level such as the one signed yesterday (19 October) between Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality Executive Mayor Mr. Alfred Mtsi and Lower Saxony city of Oldenburg Mayor Mr. Jurgen Krogmann.
The declaration states that the two Provinces support knowledge transfer and exchange expertise to improve governance and strengthen institutional capacity for service delivery of local government. The agreement also extends to cooperation between NGOs, churches, and schools.
It includes the following areas for cooperation:
- Socio-Economic Development
- Agriculture and Rural Development
- Education and Science
- Climate Change and Environmental Management
- Cooperation on Communicable Diseases
For the next two days, the delegation will hold sectoral meetings with their counterparts.
