United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Kinshasa)
Eoin Young
21 August 2007
The visit of South African president Thabo Mbeki to the DRC on Tuesday 21 August 2007 was marked by the signing of three major cooperation agreements between the two countries, in the areas of transport, health and defence.
The three agreements were signed following the fourth joint commission meeting involving ministers and high ranking officials from the governments of DR Congo and South Africa, which took place in Kinshasa from August 16 to 21.
The aim of the joint commission meeting was to discuss areas of cooperation between the two countries, such as health, education, employment and electricity, water and other infrastructures, as well as the reinforcement of human resources and state institutions.
Another area of particular importance was assistance in the area of security sector reform.
Common interests of both countries were discussed, in the bilateral, regional and international arenas, as the DRC and South Africa committed themselves to working together in the post conflict reconstruction and development of the DRC.
The joint commission will now meet two times per year for follow up and evaluation, with a future meeting to be announced.
Mr. Mbeki explained that further South African investment in the DRC economy was only a matter of time.
"The South African Minister of Trade and Industry is preparing for a business delegation to come, and certainly there is a lot of interest in every element of the Congolese economy," he said.
On the reconstruction of the DRC, President Joseph Kabila said that the infrastructure programme for the country was 'very important, and number one on the list of the government's five priorities.'
"We are setting the foundation for reconstruction to take place, and we're looking to invest heavily in this particular sector, and also looking at participation from the South African private sector," he explained.
With regard to the security situation in eastern DRC, President Kabila said that his government was 'committed and determined' to bring about stability and peace.
"We are dealing thoroughly with these problems at a political level and measures have been taken. Diplomatically, we're working with the neighbouring countries to bring about stability in the east, and of course we've taken a number of military measures to curb the insecurity, and we expect to see results between now and the end of this year," he said.
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