UK foreign minister in South Africa. British Foreign Secretary William Hague is in South Africa on official state business.
William Hague met his South African counterpart, Minister of International Relations and Co-operation, Maite Nkoana-Mashabne on Monday.
The pair met in Cape Town and discussed a wide range of bilateral issue with reference to South Africa’s relations with the United Kingdom.
“These include progress within the context of the Bilateral Forum between South Africa and the United Kingdom as well as the South Africa-United Kingdom Strategy adopted at the last meeting of the Bilateral Forum in London in June 2011,” said Mashabne in a statement.
Mashabne added that the strategy is focused around three core aspects, which include: sustainability, security and governance and civil society.
South Africa traditionally has always had strong economic and diplomatic ties with the United Kingdom. According to statistics, trade between the two countries have increased by 77% in past decade alone.
However, Mashabne added that this positive increase was accompanied by a sharp downturn due to the global financial crisis, resulting in a downfall of 37%.
Minister Mashabne also noted that trade has increased by over 10% in 2011, which indicates a positive sign in economic relations between the two countries, which South Africa seeks to improve.
“One of the principal focus points of our meeting is to further expand economic ties. The doubling of trade by 2015 has been set as a target at the last meeting of the Bilateral Forum and remains an important objective within the context of the Strategy,” said Mashabne.
Secretary Hague is also set to discuss diplomatic issues with South African government representatives, especially with regards to the situation in Syria and the upcoming London Conference on Somalia.
Hague’s visits to South Africa follows recent successful visits of British Prime Minister David Cameron, the Prince of Wales and the Lord Mayor of London David Wootton.
Meanwhile on Tuesday, Secretary Hague will deliver a key note address to an audience at the University of the Western Cape on ‘Britain and South Africa: a 21st century relationship’.
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