Ethiopia and South Africa have agreed to further bolster the existing strategic bilateral relations and continental issues.
The 4th Ethiopia-South Africa Joint Ministerial Commission meeting was held today in Addis Ababa co-chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Ethiopia, Demeke Mekonnen and Minister of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa, Naledi Pandor.
In a joint press briefing they gave at the conclusion of the meeting Demeke said both sides discussed issues of common interest in-depth.
“We have reviewed the diplomatic, security, economic and social issues of the two countries. On the basis of the review, the implementation of cooperation agreements found to be satisfactory. We need to make more efforts for best outcomes,” he added.
This is a clear manifestation of the two countries’ strong bilateral, regional and continental as well as global cooperation, Demeke stated.
Naledi Pandor said on her part Ethiopia and South Africa are hard at work to strengthen the existing bilateral relations and are doing so in a world that has begun to alter in ways that as we analyze them, we believe are increasingly a fundamental change to the way in which the world order has worked up to now.
“It is clear that countries of the south, particularly we in Africa, want to greater voice in global international matters that we wish to see greater democratization of multilateral institutions,” she pointed out.
But also, she added that as African countries we wish to work more closely together to advance the goals that we have set ourselves in the premier policy instruments of the African continent, particularly Agenda 2063.
“Minister Demeke, myself and all our officials gathered here have agreed that we must do more to ensure the priorities of Agenda 2063. I realized one of the most important is the creation of greater trade within Africa, with African products among African countries,” she stated.
This means full attention to industrialization on our continent, to developing our manufacturing capability and to ensuring that we put the wealth of Africa to good use by value addition in our own countries, rather than extraction and export, Pandor underscored.
She added that “we have agreed that the nature of our relationship while it is extremely positive and very friendly, we want to lift it to greater heights of refined collaboration, heights that would support our ambition that Africa should finally be developed, should have its people prosperous, eradicate poverty and Africa where young people feel that they have a place and Africa that is absent of conflict and that is fully focused on advancing development goals.”
The minister expressed her belief that through the work of the joint ministerial commission and the agreements that drive our cooperation, we can achieve this lofty ambition.
“We have agreed that we must monitor our officials and the various sectoral departments to ensure that our speeches become a reality in practical outcomes,” she underscored.
Source: Ethiopian News Agency