Bilateral political consultations held between Lithuania and South Africa in Pretoria
On 18 September 2019, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania and the Department of International Relations and Cooperation of the Republic of South Africa held its third bilateral political consultation in Pretoria. Discussions focused on enhancement of bilateral political and economic cooperation as well as coordination of actions in international fora. The two delegations exchanged their views on global and regional issues. Ideas were shared on how to encourage more intense business, academic and cultural relations between the two countries.
Director of the Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Pacific Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania Ms Diana Mickevičienė, who led the Lithuanian delegation in bilateral talks, presented Lithuania's priorities and highlighted the country's achievements in areas such as information and communication technology, including FinTech, life sciences and renewable energy.
In response, the head of the South African Delegation, Deputy Director General of the South Africa Department of International Relations and Cooperation H.E. Ambassador Ms Zodwa Lallie noted that South Africa is aware of Lithuania's strengths in developing its digital economy and would be interested in strengthening the partnership in this area. As South Africa is looking for opportunities to embrace the 4th industrial revolution, the Ambassador invited Lithuania to share its knowledge and know-how on ways to develop skills of the workforce in the ICT area.
Talks were held on how to facilitate the access for the Lithuanian food industry exporters to the South African market.
The Lithuanian delegation emphasized that visa-free regime for citizens of the Republic of Lithuania to South Africa would boost business relations, academic exchanges and tourism between the two countries.
The South African delegation presented the country's priorities in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), where it assumed its duties as a non-permanent member for a two-year period in January 2019. The country will be chairing the UNSC in October 2019.
Trade volumes between Lithuania and South Africa have been steadily increasing and in 2018 stood at 88.2 million Euro, with Lithuanian exports amounting to 35 million Euro to South Africa.
Lithuania and the Republic of South Africa established diplomatic relations on 20 November 1991. The last political consultation were held on 16 May 2017 in Vilnius.
