Deputy Minister Botes concludes his Working Visit to Eastern Europe

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The Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Mr Alvin Botes, has concluded his Working Visit to Azerbaijan, Georgia and Türkiye.

The purpose of the visit was to strengthen bilateral relations and discuss areas of cooperation in Trade and Investment, Mining, Energy, Defence, Higher Education as well as Science and Technology with the three countries.

In Baku, Azerbaijan, the Deputy Minister met with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr Fariz Fikrat oglu RZAYEV, and members of the business community.

In Georgia, the Deputy Minister met his counterpart, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ms Khatuna Totladze, for the first ever high-level consultations between the two countries.

Deputy Minister Botes also met the Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Mr Genadi Arveladze, to discuss the promotion of bilateral trade, Regional Cooperation (Black Sea region and SADC/Africa) and the automative industry. The Deputy Minister also met with members of the chamber of commerce to discuss increasing economic cooperation between South Africa and Georgia.

The Deputy Minister concluded his visit in Türkiye, where he met with the Türkiysh Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Sedat Onal, in Ankara. The two sides highlighted the importance of regular high-level engagements, including the convening to further strengthen bilateral relations through convening of the Joint Economic Commission (JEC) and the Binational Commission (BNC).

The two Deputy Ministers further agreed to greater cooperation in the economic, science and technology, defence and people-to-people cooperation.

The Deputy Ministers exchanged views on regional and multilateral issues of mutual interest and highlighted the importance of the peaceful resolutions of all conflicts.

In Istanbul, Deputy Minister Botes met with members of the Türkiysh Industry and Business Association and the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Türkiye (DEIK) to promote greater trade and investments from Türkiye into key sectors of South Africa’s economy, i.e., manufacturing, energy, and agriculture.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of South Africa: Department of International Relations and Cooperation.