Media Statement
30 November 2022
Deputy Minister Botes to host his Polish counterpart for Bilateral Political Consultations
The Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Mr Alvin Botes, will host his counterpart from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, Mr Paweł Jabłoński, for Bilateral Political Consultations, which will be held in Pretoria on 01 December 2022.
The Bilateral Political Consultations take place annually and are an important foreign policy instrument to coordinate the relations between the two countries based on the Protocol on Consultations signed in Pretoria between DIRCO and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland in September 1995. Mr Jabłoński, who is the Undersecretary of State, hosted Deputy Minister Botes in August 2021 during the previous session of the bilateral political discussions in Warsaw.
The purpose of the meeting is to consider progress on achieving the commitments made in the previous session of the Political Consultations. The two countries will also share perspectives and deepen their understanding of domestic, regional, multilateral, and global issues of mutual concern.
The two delegations will review the state of the bilateral political relations with a view to consolidating and further enhancing diplomatic and political cooperation between the two nations.
As part of the aim to promote economic diplomacy, the consultations will seek to catalyse progress towards the inauguration of the Joint Commission for Economic Cooperation (JCEC), which is an important structured mechanism established to coordinate economic activities between the two countries. This mechanism will operate under the guidance of the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) and its counterpart department in Poland.
The current level of bilateral trade between the two countries is small when compared to the relative size and the potential of both economies, which both countries have identified as the area most in need of attention. South African exports to Poland for the period January to September 2022 amounted to R6.2 billion, while imports from Poland were worth more than double at R13. 4 billion.
During the visit, Mr Jabłoński will also pay a courtesy call on the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Dr Minister Naledi Pandor.
Enquiries: Mr Clayson Monyela, Spokesperson for DIRCO, 082 884 5974
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND COOPERATION
OR Tambo Building
460 Soutpansberg Road
Rietondale
Pretoria
0084