15 April 2014
South Africa and Guinea are set to deepen their long-standing bilateral relations, International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said at the 2nd Joint Commission for Cooperation between the two countries in Pretoria on Monday.
The meeting was co-hosted by Nkoana-Mashabane and Guinea’s foreign minister, Francois Lounceny Fall.
“During our discussions, we agreed that there is great potential between our two countries that must be explored to further to strengthen this relationship for mutual benefit,” Mashabane said afterwards.
“We are pleased with the increasing co-operation between South Africa and the Republic of Guinea that spans education, science and technology, mining, infrastructure development, agriculture, transport and a host of other areas.
“To date, eight agreements have been signed by our two countries, including the protocol on diplomatic consultations, trade, visa waiver (for diplomatic and official passport holders) and education.”
The commission decided that officials from the two countries would meet at least once a year from now on in order to ensure that decisions made at the meeting were being implemented.
“South Africa enjoys a long-standing relationship with Guinea,” Nkoana-Mashabane said. This was solidified by the unconditional support given to South Africa during the struggle against apartheid.
Source: SAnews.gov.za
