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Deputy Foreign Minister Sue van der Merwe to host Russian Counterpart,
Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Saltanov, Tshwane, South Africa, Thursday, 8
December 2005 Tshwane - Deputy Foreign Minister Sue van der Merwe will host
her Russian counterpart, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Saltanov for political
and economic discussions at the Union Buildings in Tshwane on Thursday, 8 December
2005. Discussions between Deputy Minister van der Merwe and her Russian
counterpart come within the context of South Africa's commitment to consolidate
relations with countries of the North in order to expedite the achievement of
the developmental agenda of the South in general and Africa in particular. In
this regard, Russia as a member of the G-8 and a permanent member of the United
Nations Security Council is seen as a strategic partner for South Africa. Bilateral
relations between South Africa and Russia are governed through the Intergovernmental
Trade and Economic Committee (ITEC), the fifth session of which took place in
Moscow from 4-5 October 2005. ITEC is the most important mechanism regulating
bilateral political, trade and economic relations between Russia and South Africa
and consists of the following Joint Sub-Committees: - Trade, Investment
and Banking;
- Minerals and Energy;
- Transport - Aviation and Maritime;
- Social Sector - Health and Education;
- Agriculture;
- Water
Affairs and Forestry; and
- Science and Technology.
Discussions
between Deputy Ministers van der Merwe and Saltanov are expected to include: - The
status of bilateral political and economic relations between both countries;
- The
implementation of NEPAD;
- A briefing by Deputy Minister van der Merwe
on the recently concluded 4th session of the Pan-African Parliament;
- South
Africa's preparations for its review in terms of the African Peer Review Mechanism;
- The
comprehensive reform of the United Nations; and
- Russian support for African
peacekeeping initiatives. In this regard, 230 Russian servicemen and security
men are involved in the UN Peacekeeping operations in Africa including Burundi,
the Democratic Republic of Congo, Western Sahara, Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia,
Sierra Leone, Ethiopia and Eritrea. The Russian government is also involved in
the implementation of international programmes of strengthening the African peacekeeping
potential, including training of African peacekeepers and post-conflict reconstruction
programmes.
In terms of economic assistance, the Russian Federation
has continued to offer African states broad preferences in the field of trade
and consistently contributed to alleviating Africa's debt burden as part of the
initiative for very poor countries with large debts. In 1998-2002, Russia wrote
off US$11.2 billion of the debt of African states. The total amount of debt of
African states written off by Russia in 2003-2004 was US$107.97 million. Furthermore,
Russia assumed an obligation to write off more than US$1 billion of Ethiopian
debt to the Paris Club. Deputy Minister Saltanov will depart from South
Africa on Thursday, 8 December 2005. Issued by Ronnie Mamoepa on 082 990
4853 Department of Foreign Affairs
Private Bag X152
Tshwane
0001 7
December 2005
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