Deputy foreign ministers of Poland and the Republic of South Africa held political consultations
01.09.2021
“The Republic of South Africa is one of Poland’s main political and economic partners in Africa. We appreciate the good dynamics of our bilateral relations that were established almost exactly 30 years ago and make efforts to further enhance cooperation between our countries. It will be beneficial for both our nations,” said the MFA’s Undersecretary of State Paweł Jabłoński during today’s political consultations with Alvin Botes, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic of South Africa.
On the top of the agenda was bilateral political and economic cooperation as well as developments in the region of Sub-Saharan Africa. Special attention was devoted to economic relations and opportunities to develop them further so as to fully use the two countries’ potential, including Poland’s high-tech sector.
“We see prospects for Polish companies not only in the branches they have been traditionally active on the South African market, that is agricultural products and manufactured goods, but also in the area of digital administration and banking services, drone fleet management, cybersecurity and green technologies,” said Deputy Minister Jabłoński.
As regards our mutual trade volume, the Republic of South Africa is Poland’s biggest partner on the African continent – we enjoy a turnover that is growing each year and in 2020 it exceeded USD billion. When compared to its African partners, the Republic of South Africa also stands out in terms of the scale of investment in our country.
Deputy Minister Jabłoński expressed his appreciation of the RSA’s position on the African continent and the country’s engagement in the activities of international organisations, including economic and regional ones, especially the African Union and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The deputy head of Polish diplomacy also underlined the essential role the Republic of South Africa plays in the context of efforts taken towards stabilising the security situation in the region of Cabo Delgado in north Mozambique.
Apart from consultations at the MFA, while in Poland Deputy Minister Alvin Botes held meetings at the Polish Chamber of Commerce and the Polish Investment and Trade Agency.
On the sidelines of the political consultations at the MFA, the deputy chief of RSA’s diplomacy also met with Arkady Rzegocki, Head of the Polish Foreign Service.
The talks focused on reforming the training system for candidates who join Republic of South Africa’s Foreign Service as well as on sharing experience of training professional diplomats at the MFA’s Diplomatic Academy.
MFA Press Office
Photo: Tymon Markowski / MFA
