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Deputy President Jacob Zuma to Host
Vice President of the Council of State of the Republic
of Cuba, Dr Carlos Lage
Friday, 25 June 2004
Deputy President Jacob Zuma will host Vice President
of the Council of State of the Republic of Cuba, Dr
Carlos Lage for bilateral political and economic discussions
on Friday, 25 June 2004 in Pretoria, South Africa.
Vice President Lage will visit South Africa following
the celebration of ten years of diplomatic relations
between both countries during May 2004. During this
decade the Governments of both countries have established
excellent co-operation in all spheres.
Discussions between Deputy President Zuma and his counterpart
are expected to focus on, among others,
- Bilateral economic and political relations between
both countries;
- Developments in Africa, in respect of the operationalisation
of the African Union and the Peace and Security Council
and the inauguration of the Pan-African-Parliament;
- The revitalisation of NAM and the reform of the
United Nations; and
- Other international issues including South-South
co-operation and the global fight against terrorism.
One of the most significant agreements signed between
South Africa and Cuba has been the establishment of
the Joint Bilateral Commission (JBC) during the February
2001 visit to Cuba by the Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma. This is only the second JBC
that South Africa has with a Latin American country,
following the signature of a similar agreement with
Brazil, in December 2000.
Following this, both countries have committed themselves
to an action programme to advance and deepen bilateral
commercial relations to be implemented by the South
African Department of Trade and Industry and the Cuban
Ministry of Foreign Trade. South African exports to
Cuba according to official trade figures in 2002, indicate
that exports to Cuba are R10 530 689 and imports R2
966 627.
Following the successful cooperation in the sphere
of health - a collaboration that involves Cuban doctors
and medical professors working in South Africa and South
African medical students studying in Cuba - various
national and provincial departments began pursuing projects
in diverse areas.
A trilateral agreement between South Africa and Cuba
has resulted in the deployment of 101 Cuban doctors
to Mali, with financial resources provided by South
Africa. Within the same context, Rwanda approached South
Africa and Cuba to enter into a Tripartite Agreement
such as that with Mali. Cuba has also deployed 400 medical
doctors to the Gambia.
Other forms of cooperation have ensued with Agreements
or Memoranda of Understanding (MoU's) signed in the
fields of trade and investments, housing construction,
water resources, merchant shipping, agriculture, science
and technology, education, arts and culture, sports,
province's sisterhood exchange, among the most relevant.
Vice President Lage will depart from South Africa on
Friday, 25 June 2004.
Issued by Ronnie Mamoepa on 082 990 4853
Department of Foreign Affairs
Private Bag x152
PRETORIA
0001
24 June 2004
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