PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa will host Botswana’s President Dr Mokgweetsi Eric Masisi during the fifth Bi-National Commission of Cooperation (BNC) on Friday.
The meeting will see discussion of international issues of mutual interest and will be used to reaffirm bilateral relations and enhance cooperation within the framework of the BNC.
The BNC, established in 2010, is made up of a Political and Diplomatic Committee; a Defence and Security Committee; an Economic Committee and a Social Committee.
Since the establishment of the BNC, South Africa and Botswana have strengthened their bilateral cooperation in various sectoral areas, resulting in the signing of 38 agreements and memoranda of understanding.
The BNC Agreement has since transformed the Joint Permanent Commission for Cooperation into a fully-fledged BNC, resulting in Botswana becoming one of the few countries with which South Africa has a structured framework of bilateral cooperation at Head of State and/or government level.
The BNC will also provide a platform to exchange views on international issues of mutual interest
The BNC is preceded by the Senior Officials meetings from 19-20 April 2022 and the Ministerial meeting on 21 April 2022.
Prior to the establishment of the BNC in 2010, structured bilateral cooperation between South Africa and Botswana were conducted within the frameworks of the Joint Permanent Commission on Defence and Security which was signed on 30 June 2000 and the Joint Permanent Commission for Cooperation (JPCC) which was signed on 12 March 2003.
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