Deputy Minister Pahad and Moleketi Conclude Visit to Cuba

Havana - South African Deputy Ministers Aziz Pahad and Jabu Moleketi, will today Wednesday 11 July 2007, conclude their official visit to Havana, Cuba.

During the visit Deputy Minister Pahad, together with his Cuban counterpart Deputy Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez co-chaired the 5th session of the Joint Consultative Mechanism between South Africa and Cuba Tuesday - Wednesday 10-11 July 2007. Deputy Minister Pahad also held discussions with the Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perês Roque.

Deputy Finance Minister Jabu Moleketi held discussions with his counterpart Deputy Minister of Finance and Prices Alejandro Gil Fernandez, First Deputy Minister of Tourism Alexis Trujillo Morejon, and First Deputy President of the National Institute of Sport Roberto Leon Richard.

South Africa - Cuba Consultatative Mechanism
Deputy Ministers Pahad and Rodriguez held a series of wide ranging discussions that included bilateral political, economic and trade issues; regional situations in Latin America and the Caribbean, SADC and the African Union; the Middle East; and multilateral issues including Cuba's chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), the strengthening of South-South co-operation, and developments within the United Nations including its comprehensive reform, South Africa's tenure as a non-permanent member of the Security Council; and progress towards the 2008 African Diaspora conference to be hosted in South Africa.

Regarding bilateral political, economic and trade relations, South Africa agreed to do more to address the trade imbalance that is currently in South Africa's favour.

The Cuban delegation expressed its support of South Africa's attempts to address its skills deficit and human resource challenges through AsgiSA and JIPSA. The Cuban government accordingly reiterated its offer to train South Africans in the fields of health, construction, housing, science and technology and literacy programmes.

South Africa also offered to share experiences and train Cubans in the fields of minerals and energy, biotechnology and geosciences.

Both countries also agreed to continue the implementation of trilateral co-operation projects with Mali and Rwanda and will continue to investigate other trilateral projects.

Deputy Minister Pahad also briefed the Cuban delegation regarding African peacekeeping and conflict resolution on the Continent, inter alia, the situation in the Great Lakes region, Côte dÍvoire, Somalia, Sudan and Darfur and Zimbabwe. The Cuban delegation expressed support for the African position that each country in conflict determine their own solution and not have solutions imposed upon them.

Deputy Minister Pahad received a thorough briefing on developments within the Latin American and Caribbean region and an assessment by the Cuban delegation on the way forward for the region.

In addition, the Cuban delegation abriefed Deputy Minister Pahad on the release of Luis Tosada Cariles. South Africa supported the Cuban view that this violated Resolutions 1373/2001 of the United Nations Security Council, and the International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombing and the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation.

Cuba extended its support of the 2008 African Diaspora Conference to be held in South Africa. At least 300 000 Cubans supported Angola´s war for liberation. Deputy Minister Pahad reiterated that the African Union had decreed the African Diaspora the 6th region of the African Union.

Both delegations considered that the 30th Anniversary of Cuito Cuanavale will be commemorated in 2008 and exchanged views on how this will be observed in South Africa and Africa.

Deputy Minister Pahad also briefed his Cuban counterpart of the outcomes of the African Union Summit in Ghana at the beginning of July 2007 held under the banner of the Grand Debate on African political and economic integration. Deputy Minister Pahad explained that all countries were committed to the goal of African integration and the processes should be put in place to achieve this long-term objective.

Both sides evaluated the situation in the Middle East Iraq, Israel-Palestine, and Iran with regard to nuclear non-proliferation. Both delegations agreed and reiterated that the creation of a Palestinian state living side-by-side with Israel within secure borders and with Jerusalem as its capital remained a key element towards peace, security and stability within the region and indeed internationally.

Both delegations committed themselves to, bilaterally and within the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), to intensify efforts to bring peace to the Middle East, including Iraq and Lebanon.

With regard to Iran, both sides urged the Iranian government to co-operate with the International Atomic Energy Agency to ensure a speedy resolution to the outstanding issues.

With regard to the Non-Aligned Movement, both sides reflected on the fact that the reform of the Human Rights Council in Geneva co-incided with Cuba's chairmanship of the Movement. Both sides agreed to remain focused on the revitalisation of the Movement, on its goal to strengthen South-South co-operation and consolidate the developmental agenda of the South.

The Cuban delegation briefed their South African counterparts regarding the NAM Business Forum to be held in November 2007. Deputy Minister Pahad urged the current Chair of the Movement to have the Secretariat assess objectives and synergies of the New Africa Asia Strategic Partnership (NAASP), the China-Africa Summit (FOCAC), the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) and the Africa-Latin America Summit with a view to ensuring that the NAM Business Forum become more relevant to strengthening and consolidating economic, trade and investment relations between the countries of the South to reflect the political relations.

Deputy Minister Moleketi's Programme
Deputy Minister Moleketi, briefed his counterpart Deputy Minister of Finance and Prices Alejandro Gil Fernandez, on developments within and the challenges confronting the South African economy while Deputy Minister Fernandez shared views on the state of Cuban economic affairs and attempts to diversify its economy.

Although both countries have different development challenges there remains the opportunity to share experiences and strengthen bilateral economic relations.

During discussions with the First Deputy Minister of Tourism Alexis Trujillo Morejon, Deputy Minister Moleketi commended Cuba's progress with regard to the development of the tourist sector. It was also indicated that South Africa could benefit from the Cuban experience, inter alia, institutional capacity building and the adoption of innovative and creative approaches to attract tourists.

Deputy Minister Moleketi briefed the First Deputy President of the National Institute of Sport Roberto Leon Richard regarding progress towards South Africa's hosting of the 2010 Soccer World Cup. First Deputy President Richard invited South Africa to indicate areas in which South Africa would require assistance to ensure a successful 2010 Soccer World Cup. Deputy Minister Moleketi undertook to brief the Minister of Sports and Recreation regarding the outcomes of his meeting with the First Deputy President.

Deputy Ministers Pahad and Moleketi will depart from Havana, Cuba later today Wednesday 11 July 2007 for Panama City, Panama.

Issued by Ronnie Mamoepa on 082 990 4853

Department of Foreign Affairs
Private Bag X152
Pretoria
0001

11 July 2007