Speaking at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Thursday, Ramaphosa said the Spanish Prime Ministers visit to South Africa has been long in the making.
Ramaphosa said that whenever he met with the Spanish Prime Minister around the world, Prime Minister Sánchez would always say how he was looking forward to visiting South Africa.
The visit is a clear sign that relations between South Africa and the Kingdom of Spain are growing from strength to strength, said Ramaphosa
The president said that South Africa greatly values its friendship with Spain and that both South Africa and Spain have a shared conviction on the strategic importance and relevance of the relationship.
“Despite the restrictions placed on us by the Covid-19 pandemic, we have been able to have regular bilateral consultations between our two countries.”
Ramaphosa added that the bilateral consultations are now a well-established mechanism for deepening cooperation between South Africa and Spain.
“Our two countries cooperate in several key sectors that are important to the development of our respective nations.
“This includes co-operation in the areas of education, science and technology, defence, arts and culture, and sports.
“We therefore look forwards to signing several Memoranda of Understanding as part of this visit, namely in the fields of sports, library services and Industry 4.0.”
Ramaphosa also added that there is also significant collaboration between the two countries on issues pertaining to human rights and around women, peace and security.
“Our bilateral relations are underpinned by trade and investment promotion and facilitation.”
The president said he looks forward to the discussions that will take place around deepening reciprocal trade and investment, and on issues that are impacting the trade relationship.
Ramphosa said that as South Africa implements its Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan to drive economic growth and job creation, he looks forward to engaging with Spain on several important issues that are affecting the country’s agricultural exports into the EU.
“Our goal is to reach mutually acceptable solutions that are underpinned by the principles of fairness and transparency.”
Ramaphosa says that today’s discussions provide an opportunity to exchange views on some of the shifting global dynamics and how we can work together to address global challenges.
“As the countries of the world, we are left with just eight years in which we must meet the Sustainable Development Goals outlined in the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
“As we approach this date, we need to accelerate our efforts and strengthen our resolve.”
Ramaphosa said that South Africa will continue to engage on Spain’s Focus Africa 2023 plan and the specific cooperation programmes to foster peace, stability and sustainable development across the continent of Africa.
He further lamented the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on lives, livelihoods and national economies.
“It has made it even more urgent for us to overcome poverty, inequality, unemployment and underdevelopment.”
Ramaphosa further thanked his Spanish counterpart for supporting the proposal by South Africa and India to the World Trade Organisation for a temporary waiver of the TRIPS Agreement to enable equitable access to vaccines and other critical medical supplies.
The president added that the Kingdom of Spain played an important role in the global response to the pandemic, supporting COVAX with funding and vaccine donations, donating more than 20 million vaccine doses to African countries, and providing financial support to the Global Fund, among other efforts.
“We cannot afford to lose momentum as the international community in the fight against climate change, the most pressing issue of our time.”
“Amidst these serious challenges, multilateral cooperation is paramount.”
The president said that South Africa will continue to advocate for rules-based multi-lateralism to be at the centre of global efforts to deal with common challenges.
He added that this is particularly the case when it comes to conflicts between and within countries.
“South Africa will continue to emphasise the importance of UN-led mediation efforts towards ending all forms of conflict.
“It has always been our view that peace and security create more favourable conditions to pursue economic and sustainable development.”