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Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Aziz Pahad concludes Consultations with Iranian Deputy
Minister responsible for Afro-Arab Affairs
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Aziz Pahad this
week concluded bilateral political and economic discussions
with the Iranian Deputy Minister responsible for Afro-Arab
Affairs, Dr Seyed Mohammed Sadr in Tehran, Iran.
Both Ministers discussed and agreed upon the opportunities
for greater political and economic co-operation between
South Africa and Iran through the SA-Iran Joint Binational
Commission (JBC). The 8th session of this forum will
be led by Ministers of Foreign Affairs of South Africa
and Iran, Drs Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma and Kamal Kharrazi
on 29 - 30 November 2004 in Tehran, Iran.
An important focus of South Africa's relations with
Iran is the promotion of trade and investment. South
Africa's principal import from Iran is crude oil. In
2002, South African exports to Iran (mostly sugar) were
valued at R234 million and its imports from Iran reached
R9.664 billion
Several South African companies are now involved in
Iran. SASOL is involved in a joint venture with Iran's
National Petroleum company (NPC), while PetroSA is negotiating
to become involved in Iran's petrochemical industry.
MINTEK and Bateman Engineering are two other companies
who are making headway in their fields of expertise.
There are other initiatives by Standard Bank, Klein
Karoo Livestock Exports, Al Jabber Grinaker, Intelcon
and Global Railway Engineering.
Iranian companies are also becoming involved in South
Africa. Two are involved in multi-million US Dollar
housing projects in the Western Cape. Mahsoud Porcelain,
together with the Eastern Cape Development Authority,
is to establish a porcelain factory valued at US$100
million, in that province. There are reportedly 68 Iranian
companies involved in trade with South Africa.
Discussions also focused on matters of global importance
to both countries. In this regard, Deputy Minister Pahad
reiterated President Mbeki's message from the NAM Ministerial
meeting in Durban last week, when he outlined the three
major challenges facing the world:
- Poverty and under-development;
- Peace and security, and terrorism; and
- Restructuring of the global exercise of power.
Deputy Minister Pahad briefed Deputy Minister Dr Seyed
Mohammed Sadr regarding the outcomes of the recent Non-Aligned
Movement Ministerial (NAM) and Afro-Asian Co-operation
(AASROC) meetings in Durban, the outcomes of the SADC
Summit hosted by Mauritius earlier this month and the
3rd African Union (AU) Summit hosted by Ethiopia in
July 2004.
Both sides agreed on the importance and relevance of
NAM notwithstanding the need to revitalise and restructure
it to enable it to meet the challenges of the South.
In addition Deputy Minister Pahad briefed Dr Seyed
regarding:
- Efforts to establish peace, security and stability
on the African continent through the institutions
of the African Union;
- The operationalisation of other organs of the AU
- the African Standby Force, the continental Early
Warning System, the Panel of the Wise;
- The work of the Peace and Security Council;
- Preparations for the inauguration of the Pan-African
Parliament in September 2004; and
- Progress in the implementation of NEPAD as the socio-economic
programme of the African Union and ways in which Iran
could support this programme. The Iranian Foreign
Ministry will set up a NEPAD Desk and announced in
June 2004 the establishment of an "Africa Headquarters",
where Iran's development co-operation programme with
Africa will be planned and co-ordinated.
Deputy Minister Dr Seyed Mohammed Sadr received a comprehensive
briefing from Deputy Minister Pahad regarding the current
situation in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo,
Sudan, Zimbabwe, Angola.
In turn, Deputy Minister Pahad was briefed by Deputy
Minister Dr Seyed Mohammed Sadr regarding challenges
facing the region - the situation in Iraq and the current
impasse in the Middle East crisis - with both sides
affirming the need for these situations to be dealt
with within the parameters of multilateral fora. In
this regard, the forthcoming 59th session of the United
Nations General Assembly will provide a valuable opportunity
for these issues to be discussed with the aim of creating
the conditions for movement in both crises.
Both Deputy Ministers also discussed the United Nations
General Assembly Summit to be hosted in 2005 that will
assess progress made in the implementation of the Millennium
Development Goals and decisions of the World Summit
on Sustainable Development and World Conference on Racism,
Xenophobia and Related Intolerances hosted by South
Africa in 2002 and 2001 respectively.
Issued by Ronnie Mamoepa on 082 990 4853
Department of Foreign Affairs
Private Bag X152
Pretoria
0001
26 August 2004
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