The President of the Republic of South Africa, His Excellency Mr Jacob Zuma, has today, 27 November 2013, returned from his State visit to the Republic of Ghana, where he held bilateral talks with his counterpart, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, President of the Republic of Ghana.
President Zuma has characterised the visit to Ghana as a great success and anticipate it to effectively enhance bilateral relations between the two countries.
"It was a very successful visit and it has yielded very important results which will see our bilateral relations moving to a higher level .We had high level bilateral talks with President Mahama and agreed on various issues and we are pleased with the substantial progress that has been made in strengthening bilateral cooperation.
"Further agreements were signed which highlight the level of cooperation between our two countries and we have agreed that these instruments should translate into concrete projects that will benefit our people and further promote our economic relations,” President Zuma said.
Two Memoranda of Understanding and an Agreement were signed during the visit; i.e. MoU on Transport Related Matters; MoU on Energy and the Bilateral Air Services Agreement.
On the bilateral level, South Africa and Ghana maintain strong and cordial relations. Ghana is a major export market for South African goods, with investors from South Africa prevalent in the following sectors of the economy of Ghana: mining, retail, insurance, transport, tourism, banking, telecommunications, construction, services, franchising, manufacturing, fishing, advertising, aviation and energy.
Both President Zuma and President Mahama also encouraged the business sector to take advantage of the two countries' cordial bilateral relations to enhance trade and investment as both countries were open for business and investments.
The talks between President Zuma and President Mahama focussed not only on bilateral political, economic and trade ties between South Africa and Ghana, but also on regional, continental and global issues of common interest.
On regional, continental and global matters of common interest, South Africa and Ghana share common views with regard to the maintenance of peace, security and stability on the African continent, the need for greater intra-African trade; industrialisation of the African continent and reform of global institutions of governance such as United Nations Security Council.
President Zuma was accompanied by the Ministers of International Relations and Cooperation, Ms MaiteNkoana-Mashabane; Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davis; Transport, Ms Dipou Peters; Energy, Mr Dikobe Ben Martins; Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Ms Tina Joemat-Peterson; Science and Technology, Mr Derek Hanekom and Police, Mr Nathi Mthethwa.
The President was also accompanied by a business delegation.
Enquiries:
Mac Maharaj
Cell: 079 879 3203
E-mail: macmaharaj@icloud.com
