Deputy Minister Pahad and Moleketi arrive in Mexico

Mexico City - South African Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad, and Deputy Finance Minister Jabu Moleketi, today Friday 13 July 2007 arrived in Mexico City, Mexico ahead of bilateral political, economic and trade relations with the Mexican Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Maria de Lourdes Aranda Bezaury scheduled for Friday 13 July 2007.

Deputy Ministers Pahad and Moleketi on Thursday 12 July 2007 concluded the first official visit to Panama City by a South African delegation where they both held a series of political and economic discussions.

Deputy Ministers Pahad and Moleketi are visiting Latin America within the context of South Africa's priority to consolidate bilateral political, economic and trade relations with Mexico.

Issues on the agenda of discussions between Deputy Minister Pahad and Undersecretary Bezaury in Mexico are expected to include, among others:
The status of bilateral political and economic relations between both countries;
Regional affairs in Latin America and the Caribbean and SADC and the African Union;
Multilateral co-operation in the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement and the Group of 77 + China.

Deputy Ministers Pahad and Moleketi are expected to depart from Mexico on Saturday 14 July 2007 ahead of their visit to Spain.

Deputy Ministers Pahad and Moleketi conclude first official South African government visit to Panama
Deputy Ministers Pahad and Moleketi on Thursday 12 July 2007 paid the first official visit by a South African government delegation to Panama City.

Deputy Ministers Pahad and Moleketi held joint discussions with Ricardo Duran, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nilda Quijano, General Manager of the Colon Free Zone and Director of the National Institute of Culture of Panama Reinier Rodriguez.

Deputy Minister Pahad held further discussions with Carlos Raul Moreno of the Panama Maritime Authority, Deputy Minister on Sugarcane and Ethonol Production Manuel Jose Paredes, and Deputy Minister of Justice and Government on Co-operation Severino Mejia.

Deputy Minister Moleketi held discussions with his counterpart Deputy Minister of Finance Orcila Constable and members of the National Institute of Sports and Members of the Panamanian Football Federation.

Deputy Ministers Pahad and Moleketi briefed members of the Panamanian government on the internal developments within South Africa including achievements and challenges in the fight against poverty, unemployment and underdevelopment.

The South African delegation explained that for the first time in many years, Africa is showing some positive economic growth. However, despite some positive developments, Africa is the only continent that continues to get poorer and despite commitments of increased aid by the Group of 8 (G-8) Africa will not achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Both sides agreed that the developed world had a moral responsibility to ensure that aid commitments were met since an Africa that did not achieve the Millennium Development Goals would impact negatively on the rest of the world.

Deputy Minister Moleketi also addressed the matter of efforts to upgrade South African infrastructure to enable it to be more responsive in a rapidly globalising world and progress towards preparations for the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup.

The South African delegation received a thorough briefing from their Panamanian hosts of their domestic situation including efforts to combat money laundering as well as drug trafficking and an assessment of developments within the region. The South African and Panamanian delegations agreed that the sharing of information, and related matters, in this regard could be a potential area of co-operation between both countries.

The South African and Panamanian delegations also discussed bilateral political and economic discussions between South Africa and Panama. Since this was the first official government delegation to visit Panama both sides agreed that this will be followed by reciprocal visits of both government and private sector delegations so that areas of co-operation between both countries could be investigated including maritime co-operation, the transfer of skills in the mining sector and biotechnology. Both sides agreed that there were many similarities in the challenges experienced by both countries and that areas for mutually beneficial co-operation did exist.

The delegation visited the Panama Canal Authority, the largest of its kind in the world, where they were briefed on plans to expand the Canal by 2014 to accommodate larger carriers and increasing maritime traffic through the Canal. The Panamanian delegation expressed the view that it would like to investigate areas of co-operation with South Africa in maritime matters and Deputy Ministers Moleketi and Pahad agreed to brief the relevant authorities in South Africa of this request.

The Panamanian delegation also elaborated on the strategic importance of the Panama Canal since it is located between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and as such has easy access to the United States of America as well as the South and Latin American markets.

Deputy Minister Pahad also briefed the Panamanian delegation of developments within the SADC region, the African Union including the outcomes of the Grand Debate on African political and economic integration, and conflict resolution and peacekeeping in Africa, inter alia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Côte d'Ivoire, Sudan and Darfur, Somalia, Western Sahara and Zimbabwe.

The Panamanian delegation expressed support of South Africa's efforts to contribute towards peacekeeping and post-conflict resolution in Africa and welcomed efforts by Africa to hold multi-party elections, implement good governance and democracy and maintain peace, security and stability on the Continent.

Deputy Minister Pahad also briefed the Panamanian government of the forthcoming African Diaspora Summit to be hosted by South Africa in 2008 within the context of the decision by the African Union that the African Diaspora be considered the 6th region of the African Union. The South African delegation also highlighted that the Conference would also be held to consider how the African Diaspora could be mobilised to contribute positively towards African developmental challenges.

The Panamanian delegation indicated that they fully supported this initiative and that a government delegation would attend the forthcoming regional preparatory meeting in The Bahamas.

Deputy Minister Pahad also briefed his Panamanian counterpart on South Africa's position on the Middle East, Iraq and the situation in Iran. Both delegations agreed that a just and long-lasting solution to the situation between Israel and Palestine remained the key to achieving peace, security and stability in the region.

Both sides briefed each other and reviewed their first six months as non-permanent members of the Security Council. Both South Africa and Panama assumed their tenure on 1 January 2007 and will continue until 31 December 2008. South Africa and Panama agreed to continue co-operation within the Security Council.

Both countries also evaluated progress towards the comprehensive reform of the United Nations including the Security Council and financial institutions.

Issued by Ronnie Mamoepa on 082 990 4853

Department of Foreign Affairs
Private Bag X152
Pretoria
0001

13 July 2007