Minister J Moleketi conclude visit to Cuba
11 July 2007
Havana: South African Deputy Ministers Aziz Pahad and Deputy Finance
Minister Jabu Moleketi, will today Wednesday, 11 July 2007, conclude their
official visit to Havana, Cuba. During the visit Deputy Minister Pahad,
together with his Cuban counterpart Deputy Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez
co-chaired the fifth session of the Joint Consultative Mechanism between South
Africa and Cuba Tuesday, 10 July 2007, to Wednesday, 11 July 2007. Deputy
Minister Pahad also held discussions with the Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe
Peres Roque.
Deputy Finance Minister Jabu Moleketi held discussions with his counterpart
Deputy Minister of Finance and Prices Alejandro Gil Fernandez, first Deputy
Minister of Tourism Alexis Trujillo Morejon and first Deputy President of the
national Institute of Sport Roberto Leon Richard.
South Africa to Cuba Consultative Mechanism
Deputy Ministers Pahad and Rodriguez held a series of wide ranging
discussions that included bilateral political, economic and trade issues;
regional situations in Latin America and the Caribbean, Southern African
Development Community (SADC) and the African Union (AU); the Middle East and
multilateral issues including Cuba's chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement
(NAM), the strengthening of South-South co-operation and developments within
the United Nations including its comprehensive reform, South Africa's tenure as
a non-permanent member of the Security Council and progress towards the 2008
African Diaspora conference to be hosted in South Africa.
Regarding bilateral political, economic and trade relations, South Africa
agreed to do more to address the trade imbalance that is currently in South
Africa's favour. The Cuban delegation expressed its support of South Africa's
attempts to address its skills deficit and human resource challenges through
the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA) and
Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition (Jipsa). The Cuban government
accordingly reiterated its offer to train South Africans in the fields of
health, construction, housing, science and technology and literacy
programmes.
South Africa also offered to share experiences and train Cubans in the
fields of minerals and energy, biotechnology and geosciences. Both countries
also agreed to continue the implementation of trilateral co-operation projects
with Mali and Rwanda and will continue to investigate other trilateral
projects.
Deputy Minister Pahad also briefed the Cuban delegation regarding African
peacekeeping and conflict resolution on the Continent, inter alia, the
situation in the Great Lakes region, Cote d' Ivoire, Somalia, Sudan and Darfur
and Zimbabwe. The Cuban delegation expressed support for the African position
that each country in conflict determine their own solution and not have
solutions imposed upon them.
Deputy Minister Pahad received a thorough briefing on developments within
the Latin American and Caribbean region and an assessment by the Cuban
delegation on the way forward for the region. In addition, the Cuban delegation
briefed Deputy Minister Pahad on the release of Luis Tosada Cariles. South
Africa supported the Cuban view that this violated Resolutions 1373/2001 of the
United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and the International Convention for the
Suppression of Terrorist Bombing and the Convention for the Suppression of
Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation.
Cuba extended its support of the 2008 African Diaspora Conference to be held
in South Africa. At least 300 000 Cubans supported Angola's war for liberation.
Deputy Minister Pahad reiterated that the African Union had decreed the African
Diaspora the 6th region of the African Union. Both delegations considered that
the 30th Anniversary of Cuito Cuanavale will be commemorated in 2008 and
exchanged views on how this will be observed in South Africa and Africa.
Deputy Minister Pahad also briefed his Cuban counterpart of the outcomes of
the African Union Summit in Ghana at the beginning of July 2007 held under the
banner of the Grand Debate on African political and economic integration.
Deputy Minister Pahad explained that all countries were committed to the goal
of African integration and the processes should be put in place to achieve this
long-term objective.
Both sides evaluated the situation in the Middle East Iraq,
Israel-Palestine, and Iran with regard to nuclear non-proliferation. Both
delegations agreed and reiterated that the creation of a Palestinian state
living side-by-side with Israel within secure borders and with Jerusalem as its
capital remained a key element towards peace, security and stability within the
region and indeed internationally.
Both delegations committed themselves to, bilaterally and within the NAM, to
intensify efforts to bring peace to the Middle East, including Iraq and
Lebanon. With regard to Iran, both sides urged the Iranian government to
co-operate with the International Atomic Energy Agency to ensure a speedy
resolution to the outstanding issues.
With regard to the Non-Aligned Movement, both sides reflected on the fact
that the reform of the Human Rights Council in Geneva coincided with Cuba's
chairmanship of the movement. Both sides agreed to remain focused on the
revitalisation of the movement, on its goal to strengthen South-South
co-operation and consolidate the developmental agenda of the South.
The Cuban delegation briefed their South African counterparts regarding the
NAM Business Forum to be held in November 2007. Deputy Minister Pahad urged the
current chair of the movement to have the secretariat assess objectives and
synergies of the New Africa Asia Strategic Partnership (NAASP), the Forum on
China-Africa Co-operation (FOCAC) Summit, the Tokyo International Conference on
African Development (TICAD) and the Africa-Latin America Summit with a view to
ensuring that the NAM Business Forum become more relevant to strengthening and
consolidating economic, trade and investment relations between the countries of
the South to reflect the political relations.
Deputy Minister Moleketi's programme
Deputy Minister Moleketi briefed his counterpart Deputy Minister of Finance
and Prices Alejandro Gil Fernandez on developments within and the challenges
confronting the South African economy while Deputy Minister Fernandez shared
views on the state of Cuban economic affairs and attempts to diversify its
economy. Although both countries have different development challenges there
remains the opportunity to share experiences and strengthen bilateral economic
relations.
During discussions with the First Deputy Minister of Tourism Alexis Trujillo
Morejon, Deputy Minister Moleketi commended Cuba's progress with regard to the
development of the tourist sector. It was also indicated that South Africa
could benefit from the Cuban experience, inter alia, institutional capacity
building and the adoption of innovative and creative approaches to attract
tourists.
Deputy Minister Moleketi briefed the First Deputy President of the national
Institute of Sport Roberto Leon Richard regarding progress towards South
Africa's hosting of the 2010 Soccer World Cup. First Deputy President Richard
invited South Africa to indicate areas in which South Africa would require
assistance to ensure a successful 2010 Soccer World Cup. Deputy Minister
Moleketi undertook to brief the Minister of Sports and Recreation regarding the
outcomes of his meeting with the first Deputy President.
Deputy Ministers Pahad and Moleketi will depart from Havana, Cuba later
today Wednesday, 11 July 2007 for Panama City, Panama.
Enquiries:
Ronnie Mamoepa
Cell: 082 990 4853
Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
11 July 2007
