Norway will give South Africa about R235-million under a five-year bilateral cooperation agreement, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Friday.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and her Norwegian counterpart, Jan Peterson, signed a declaration of intent in Durban on Friday to promote closer cooperation between the two countries.
The two were meeting for the annual consultations that were set out in the memorandum of understanding of 1996 between the two countries, foreign affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said in a statement.
”The two foreign ministers signed a Declaration of Intent on bilateral consultations and guidelines for Norwegian-South African development cooperation from 2005 to 2009,” he said.
According to the declaration the two countries will ”continue to discuss regional issues; identify areas of future cooperation; and promote closer cooperation in multilateral fora on issues such as human rights”.
The ministers discussed various issues, including the current situation in Africa and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, and conflict resolution in Africa, especially in the Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and the Great Lakes Region, the Horn of Africa and Zimbabwe.
International matters of mutual interest — the Middle East, Iraq and Sri Lanka — were also on the agenda.
The Declaration of Intent elaborates on the agreed guidelines for cooperating on development from 2005 to 2009.
”Norway is committed to providing 250-million Norwegian Kroner [about R235-million] for the bilateral cooperation over the five-year period,” Mamoepa said.
The two countries will focus on development areas including higher education and research; environment and natural resources; energy; democracy, peace, security and human rights.
Peterson is on a two-day official visit to South Africa. On Saturday he will meet Trade and Industry Minister Alec Erwin in Cape Town to discuss the World Trade Organisation and other matters.
He will attend the performance of Fidelio by the Norwegian State Opera and the Cape Town Opera on Robben Island on Saturday night.
”The performance in this historical venue by the two opera companies is being jointly sponsored by the Norwegian and South African governments as part of the celebrations of 10 years of democracy in South Africa, the 2005 celebration of Norway’s centenary of independence and the strong ties between South Africa and Norway,” Mamoepa said. — Sapa