The third meeting of the South Africa- Ethiopia Joint Ministerial Commission was held in Durban on Thursday (March 28th) 2013, with Dr. Tedros Adhanom, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, and Ms Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, Minister of International Relations and Co-operation of the Republic of South Africa leading their respective delegations. The discussions were characterized as being conducted in a spirit of friendship, mutual support and understanding reflecting the prevailing close relations between the Peoples and the Governments of South Africa and Ethiopia.
Minister Nkoana-Mashabane opened the meeting, expressing her appreciation for the efforts made by both parties following the signing of an Implementation Plan at the previous session of the Commission. She commended the work of the Senior Officials of both countries who had met in November 2012, in line with the Implementation Plan and hailed the progress made by both parties in advancing the bilateral trade and economic relations. Dr. Tedros expressed his appreciation for the warm welcome and hospitality extended to the Ethiopian delegation and reiterated Ethiopia’s commitment to the Implementation Plan to ensure the strengthening of the bilateral relations for the betterment of the citizens of both countries.
On bilateral matters, the two parties reviewed the outcome of the Senior Officials’ Meeting held in Pretoria in November 2012 and areas of discussion covered Trade, Industry, Investment, Agriculture, Science and Technology, Water, Energy, Transport, Tourism, Arts and Culture, Capacity Building and Education. The meeting urged the Senior Officials of both sides to redouble their efforts in expediting the implementation of signed agreements. Both parties expressed their satisfaction over prevailing warm relations at political level and underscored the importance of improving commercial interaction by opening market access and reciprocal promotion of investment opportunities to each other’s business sectors. They therefore welcomed the announcement, in July 2012, by a South African company, Pretoria Portland Cement Company Limited which, with the support of the Industrial Development Corporation, had secured a significant stake in the Habesha Cement Share Company of Ethiopia. The two parties welcomed the commitment by Trade and Industry South Africa (TISA) to lead a business delegation to Addis Ababa in April 2013.
In the political field, the Ministers expressed their satisfaction at the ongoing cooperation achieved between the two countries. They further noted the continued efforts to strengthen and improve coordination and consultations especially with regard to strengthening Regional Economic Communities and the African Union for the advancement of regional and continental integration. They exchanged views on the latest developments in their respective regions and in the rest of the continent.
With regard to the situation in Somalia, they welcomed the new Somali Federal Government under the leadership of President Hassan Mohamud and committed themselves to supporting Somalia in achieving its goals for peace, security, and development. Minister Nkoana-Mashabane took the opportunity to inform Dr Tedros that South Africa would be hosting the next International Contact Group meeting on Somalia. With regard to Sudan and South Sudan, the Ministers welcomed the agreement reached on March 8th, on the implementation matrix of the September 27th 2012 agreements. They further expressed their satisfaction with the announcement by the Government of Sudan that it will hold direct talks with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North. In addition, the two Ministers emphasized the need for the international community to support the mediation efforts of the African Union High Level Implementation Panel in finding a solution to the impasse between the two parties particularly over the status of Abyei and other disputed areas.
It was agreed that the next Senior Officials’ Meeting of the Joint Ministerial Commission will be held in Addis Ababa before the end of 2013. It was also decided that the next Joint Ministerial Commission meeting will be held in 2014 in Ethiopia.
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* Originally published on A Week in the Horn of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – on March 29, 2013 issue, titled “South Africa – Ethiopia Joint Ministerial Commission Meeting ”. Items from A Week in the Horn are re-published here with a permission to do so.
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