Pretoria – The upcoming Partnership Forum meeting between South Africa and Oman is expected to be used as a platform to review bilateral relations and explore further opportunities for cooperation between the two countries.
The Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ebrahim Ebrahim, today arrived in Muscat, Oman, for the first meeting of the South Africa-Oman Partnership Forum.
The partnership between South Africa and Oman, an Arab state in southwest Asia, was established through the signing of an agreement on the establishment of a partnership forum by Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, and Omani Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, in Cape Town in October 2010.
Other than political relations in general, specific focus would be placed on cooperation in the fields of arts and culture, justice and constitutional development, higher education and training, agriculture and trade and investment.
It is also expected that discussions will take place on current developments in Africa and the Middle East and ways in which the two countries could collaborate on issues of peace and security.
Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in October 1995 and South Africa opened its Embassy in Muscat in 2002, and Oman opened its Embassy in Pretoria in 2003. – BuaNews
