By KYIV. Nov 6 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba invited Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa Nalendi Pandor to visit Ukraine, and also offered to hold a business forum in Kyiv in the near future with the participation of businesses of Ukraine and South Africa.
According to the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Kuleba invited the South African side to take part in the Global Peace Summit, which is currently being worked out by Ukraine and partners. He also separately raised the issue of illegal deportation of Ukrainian children from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine to Russia.
“The Minister also proposed to hold a business forum in Kyiv in the near future with the participation of Ukrainian and South African businesses in order to increase trade volumes and implement mutually beneficial economic projects. The ministers also agreed to hold regular political consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and senior diplomats,” the report says.
In addition, Kuleba invited Pandor to visit Ukraine at a convenient time for her.
The Ministers paid special attention to the export of Ukrainian grain and food security in Africa. Kuleba invited South Africa to join the global humanitarian initiative of the President of Ukraine – Grain from Ukraine.
A separate topic of the talks was the intensification of cooperation in the field of digitalization of public services. Kuleba noted that Ukraine is ready to share its best practices of creating a “state in a smartphone.” Also during the talks, the interlocutors discussed cooperation between Ukraine and South Africa within the framework of the African Union, the intensification of communications with African countries, Ukraine’s participation in African simplified and free trade mechanisms.
Following the talks, a memorandum on the development of cooperation in the field of diplomatic education and research between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and the Department of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa was signed in the presence of the ministers.
As reported, on Monday, November 6, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba is paying an official visit to the Republic of South Africa, which will be the first visit of the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry to this country since 1998.
