By Simon Nare
International Affairs and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola and his UK counterpart Foreign Secretary David Lammy have committed to working together to grow both countries economically.
At a joint press conference in Cape Town where Lamola was hosting the visiting foreign secretary, he pointed out the importance of strengthening ties between the countries, which were severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, but also because of the general state of the global economy and other domestic challenges.
A recent state visit by President Cyril Ramaphosa in the UK and a separate working visit by Deputy President Paul Mashatile was geared at providing renewed impetus to the countries’ bilateral engagements.
“More specifically, the deputy president’s visit was to re-build investor confidence in South Africa and increase foreign direct investment into SA,” he said.
Lamola expressed enthusiasm on the convening of the UK-SA Bilateral Forum to discuss various issues.
He said the forum must result in a re-commitment to improve its functioning and chart the way forward.
He pointed out that over the years and when it was established in the 1990s, the forum was attended by heads of state. But in the past decade, it was only attended by foreign ministers.
It was South Africa’s hope that the forum be reset and go back to in-depth discussions on a wide range of issues so that it would set the tone for bilateral engagements at all levels.
“From our perspective, the forum must be utilised to not only discuss the current status of issues, but also identify new areas of cooperation, discuss challenges, drive engagement, and give a mandate to its working groups.
“It is imperative that the different departments, who are responsible for the myriad of issues of cooperation that underpin our bilateral relationship, agree on specific ways and plans of action that will ensure the successful implementation of the various agreements as well as the key outcomes of the state visit and working visit,” he said.
Lamola said the UK remained a key partner for South Africa.
It was for this reason that the government was proposing the review and an agreement on a memorandum of understanding.
Lammy said his current visit was to further build on the relations South Africa and the UK had and his country was committed to offer any assistance.
“We as (a) new government are committed to growth and we are committed to caring leadership. And so, on trade and the green transaction, on technical assistance and on technology there is much that we can do together,” he said.
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