President Cyril Ramaphosa will host the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, on a state visit to South Africa on Tuesday.
The visit will take place in Cape Town.
The last official visit to South Africa by a German President was undertaken 20 years ago by then Federal President Roman Herzog.
This week’s state visit follows a bilateral meeting between President Ramaphosa and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the margins of the G20 Africa Summit in Berlin in October.
This meeting re-energised relations between South Africa and Germany and provided the opportunity for the President to highlight the strategic importance of the relationship between the two countries.
During a business breakfast meeting in Berlin, President Ramaphosa encouraged German business leaders to continue investing in South Africa and expressed appreciation for the significant role German companies continue to play in developing skills and building capacity in South Africa.
Relations between South Africa and Germany are cordial, multifaceted and of a strategic nature.
The importance of Germany to South Africa’s national and international interests can be seen in Germany’s support of South Africa’s domestic objectives, such as fostering economic growth, overcoming poverty and social imbalances, increasing the skills base and supporting efforts to combat the effects of climate change.
Germany and South Africa also have a robust and growing trade relationship with Germany being South Africa’s third-largest global trading partner in 2017.
Germany is also one of the largest foreign investors in South Africa, with more than 600 German companies having subsidiaries or production in the country, sustaining approximately 100 000 jobs.
The state visit will afford both leaders an opportunity to discuss multilateral issues and to cooperate closely as non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council for a two-year term from 2019 – 2020.
It is expected that the visit will lead to the signing of trade and investment agreements between South Africa and Germany. – SAnews.gov.za
