Cabinet has welcomed the Official Visit to South Africa by Spanish President Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, last month.

Cabinet believes that the visit solidified the already strong relations between the two countries.

The Spanish Minister for Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, and a business delegation accompanied the President.

“The visit created opportunities for various South African sectors to meet with their Spanish counterparts and to deepen cooperation in trade and investment, science and innovation, arts and culture, sports and education,” the Cabinet Statement read on Thursday.

This visit, according to the Cabinet, provided another boost to the country’s investment and economic growth drive.

Ethiopia’s Tigray Peace Talks

Meanwhile, South Africa, under the auspices of the African Union (AU), hosted formal peace talks between the warring sides in the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, from 25 to 30 October 2022.

The Ethiopian government and the northern Tigray regions signed an agreement on Wednesday to end a two-year war that has claimed thousands of lives and caused many to flee.

The High Representative of the Chairperson of the AU Commission, Olusegun Obasanjo, was briefing the media in Pretoria regarding the AU-led negotiations to resolve the conflict in Ethiopia.

Obasanjo described the truce as a beginning of a new dawn for Ethiopia, and Africa as a whole.

Cabinet has since expressed its support for a peaceful and sustainable solution to the conflict, in line with South Africa’s foreign policy objectives of a secure and conflict-free continent. 

“It remains confident that there will be positive outcomes from these talks.”

Nigeria’s former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Kenya’s former President Uhuru Kenyatta and South Africa’s former Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka facilitated the dialogue.

Source: South African Government News Agency