Egyptian - South African interaction, highly important

South African President Thabo Mbeki received a message from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on bilateral relations and coordinating the Egyptian-South African stances on different regional and international issues of mutual interest.

The message was delivered by visiting Foreign Minister Amr Moussa to Vice-President Nkosazana Zuma during their meeting.

Moussa and Zuma exchanged views over African Unity probed during the recently held African Summit in Lome, Togo.

The two sides also discussed globalization, underlining the importance of scaling up AfricaÌs economy to go in line with the world's economic developments.

Moussa and Zuma highlighted the importance of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)'s cooperation with the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which will be a stepping stone to further the inspired-for inter-Southern cooperation.

Moussa laid emphasis on cementing the Egyptian-South African efforts so that Africa's interests could be achieved.

ÏInteraction between Egypt and South Africa is highly important as the two countries exchange viewpoints on regional and international relations,Ó Moussa said.

Out of this perspective, Moussa was accompanied by a high-powered delegation that includes Minister of Electricity Ali Al-Saeedi besides other senior officials from ministries and a large group of businessmen.

ÏThe businessmen will explore fresh opportunities to propel economic relations and increase trade exchange,Ó Moussa said.

The Egyptian Foreign Minister indicated that the Egyptian and South African businessmen should put into consideration the challenges of globalization, notably information technology.

Zuma, on her part, said the meetings of the fourth joint committee are extremely important as they support relations and help both countries coordinate positions on regional and international issues.

Zuma hoped that the relations between the two countries would see more cooperation.

ÏEgypt and South Africa are two important states and rank among Africa's largest countries, with great responsibilities for maintaining security and peace in the region,Ó Amr Moussa said.

Addressing the inaugural session of the fourth joint Egyptian-South African Committee meetings, Moussa said the joint committee will look into three key issues. namely bilateral relations, the deteriorating situation in Africa and the challenges posed by globalization.

Moussa referred to the negative political, economic, trade, health, development and security situation in the African continent.

Within this framework, he underlined the importance of unifying Africa, stressing that this idea should be seriously discussed by all African countries.

Moussa added that the Egyptian and the South African sides alike were concerned for the future of the continent.

As for the issue of globalization, Moussa referred to the identity of the Egyptian and South African stances towards the phenomenon.

Our view towards the globalization phenomenon is not pessimistic, he said. We look at it as a process that all people should benefit from, not only the rich ones, he noted.

He expressed his belief that there should be strong political and economic ties between the African countries because this would help consolidate inter-African action.

He added that there was a joint desire to follow up the Egyptian-South African relations in the various domains.

South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Zuma, on the other hand, reiterated the depth of the time-honored relations binding South Africa and Egypt, as they both were members of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the United Nations.

Zuma noted that there were common interests between the two countries, such as the desire to realize peace, security, economic development in the African continent.

Zuma underlined the vital role which Egypt was playing in the peace negotiations either in the Middle East region or in Central Africa.

Zuma made it clear that her country was seeking to develop its trade relations with all African countries, because she believed that constant development and economic growth were essential for overcoming poverty problems.

She expressed her happiness over the agreement scheduled to be inked during Moussa's visit to South Africa between the stock exchanges in Cairo and Alexandria and their counterpart in Johannesburg.

She voiced hope that the agreement would constitute a basis for strong cooperation between Egypt and South Africa and promote bilateral relations.