Pretoria - President Jacob Zuma and his Benin counterpart, Thomas Boni Yayi, have reiterated the need for reforms within the United Nations system, particularly the Security Council and the Bretton Woods Institutions to take into account the needs of developing countries.
The two leaders declared this after their meeting in Cape Town on Thursday.
South Africa and the rest of the developing countries have been calling on the UN to instigate reforms that would see global governance as being more aware of developing countries and not so geared towards the more developed West.
President Yayi was on a one-day state visit to South Africa with the aim of enhancing bilateral relations with Africa's economic powerhouse.
In a joint communiqu, the two countries called for the establishment of a new world economic order which would take into account the interests of the poor countries in order to narrow the ever-growing gap between the poor and the rich.
As the two try to diversify their economies, they signed a Memorandum of Understanding regarding Economic Co-operation and a Bilateral Air Services Agreement which will be elevated to the level of the Joint Commission for Cooperation.
They directed their international relations ministers to monitor the implementation of the agreements they signed.
In his remarks, President Zuma emphasised the importance of further strengthening economic relations, especially through trade and investment, therefore creating job opportunities in both countries.
Although the two countries enjoy close bilateral relations, they said the level of trade between them was not enough and vowed to deepen them in the future.
In his address to business leaders, Yayi appealed to South African business and investors to visit Benin to discover opportunities offered by his country and its economic potentials and assets.
Although the country boasts a stable economy, Benin is severely underdeveloped and the economy relies heavily on trade with its eastern neighbour Nigeria.
As it is, South Africa's exports to Benin include traditional base metals and products thereof, prepared foodstuffs, chemical products, machinery and electrical equipment, while on the other hand South Africa's main imports from Benin are vegetable products.
On current affairs, the two leaders vowed to work together during the upcoming COP17 climate change conference to ensure the interests of Africa were highlighted, saying they would urge for a multilateral climate change regime that strikes a balance between climate change and development imperatives.
Zuma said: "We want to challenge the notion that there is a trade-off to be made between faster economic growth and the preservation of our environment. Faster economic growth can be achieved alongside the sustainable management of our natural resources, and without jeopardising economic growth and the poverty eradication priorities of developing countries."
After all the formalities, the Presidents visited Gugulethu outside Cape Town, where they laid wreaths at the tombstones of seven anti-apartheid activists who were killed by police in the 1980s.
