Pretoria - International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor is hosting Bangladesh’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abul Kalam Abdul Momen who is on an official visit to South Africa.
On Tuesday morning, the two ministers were scheduled to hold official talks at the department of international relations and cooperation’s (DIRCO) OR Tambo offices in Pretoria.
“South Africa attaches great importance to its relationship with Bangladesh which is underpinned by historic bonds of solidarity, friendship, and cooperation. Diplomatic relations were established on 10 September 1994 and 25 years of diplomatic relations were celebrated in September 2019,” said Dirco spokesperson Clayson Monyela.
He said the visit takes place during a significant year for Bangladesh, as the country celebrated in March its golden jubilee anniversary of independence that coincided with the celebration of the birth centenary of father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
“The bilateral relations between the two countries [are] conducted within the framework of a senior officials meeting which meets on an annual basis; the last session was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh in September 2019,” said Monyela.
Given the “new challenges” brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, Monyela said the official visit allows the two ministers to assess the current state of the bilateral relations between the two countries and to calibrate the existing relations to adapt challenges brought about by an ever-changing international environment.
“Both South Africa and Bangladesh share a common vision on a range of global issues anchored in the joint advance of the development agenda of the countries of the Global South and represented in multilateral fora such as the UN, the G77 plus China, Commonwealth, Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA). Bangladesh will assume the IORA Chairship in November 2021,” said Monyela.
He said the meeting in Pretoria will encompass, amongst others, a review of bilateral agreements, technical cooperation, trade and economic cooperation, energy, agriculture, women’s economic empowerment, exchange of information on efforts to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, regional and multilateral developments.
African News Agency (ANA)