Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe to host Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau, H.E. Carlos Gomes Júnior

Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa, H.E. Kgalema Motlanthe, will host the Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau, H.E. Carlos Gomes Júnior, on a one day working visit to South Africa. The working visit will be held in Cape Town on 26 August 2010.

Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Júnior will arrive in South Africa on 25 August 2010 accompanied by Senior Government Officials and representatives from the private sector.

The visit will provide a platform for South Africa and Guinea-Bissau to prepare for the launch of the Joint Bilateral Commission (JBC) which is established through the General Cooperation Agreement signed in August 2008.

The visit will also focus the engagements on the following issues:

• Review of defense and security cooperation;
• Review of cooperation in the areas of health and education, including human resource development and capacity building;
• Promotion of bilateral trade, and investment;
• Promotion of cooperation in the mining and energy sectors; and
• Strengthening of cooperation in the field of justice and law enforcement.

The bilateral engagements will provide South Africa with an opportunity to further reiterate its support for the initiatives of the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African Countries (ECOWAS) in support of Guinea-Bissau.

For further information please contact Chief Director for Public Diplomacy, Saul Kgomotso Molobi on +27 82 940 1647, +27 12 351 0083 or email him on molobisk@dirco.gov.za.

Issued by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation
OR Tambo Building
460 Soutpansberg Road
Rietondale
PRETORIA, RSA
0001

22 August 2010