S. Africa President To Visit Egypt Wednesday

South Africa's President Jacob Zuma will visit Egypt Wednesday for talks with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) has said.



"The President (Zuma) will, at the invitation of President al-Sisi, travel to Cairo following the conclusion of the state visit to People's Democratic Republic of Algeria," DIRCO spokesman Clayson Monyela said in a statement Monday.



He said Zuma's visit to Egypt represented an "ideal opportunity" to strengthen historic and strategic relations between the two countries.



Talks between the two leaders are expected to tackle regional and international issues of mutual concern.



South Africa, which had been critical of the mid-2013 ouster of Mohammed Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected president, by the military and the subsequent crackdown on dissent, says it enjoys good relations with Egypt.



"South Africa and Egypt enjoy warm and cordial relations since the establishment of diplomatic relations in May 1994," the DIRCO statement said.



According to the statement, relations between the two countries culminated in the creation of a structured framework of cooperation in the form of a Ministerial Joint Bilateral Commission (JBC) in 1995.



"South Africa's total exports to Egypt by the end of 2014 reached Rand 973 million, whereas imports from Egypt recorded Rand 659 million at the end of 2014," the statement said.



www.aa.com.tr/en - Gauteng