Distinguished members of the media,
Ladies and gentlemen,

My dear brother, President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo together with our delegations, have just emerged from fruitful bilateral discussions aimed at increasing and expanding our bilateral cooperation.

This is President Nguema’s first state visit to South Africa, and it follows on a visit that I undertook to Equatorial Guinea in November 2009.

During our discussions we reviewed the state of our bilateral cooperation in a wide range of areas, namely, trade and industry, transport, minerals and energy, agriculture, public enterprises, communication, defence and security.

We are satisfied with the state of cooperation in these areas and we have agreed to further deepen and intensify our cooperation so that we can maximise on the benefits and contribute to the development of our two countries.

Noting the steady growth in the level of trade, we have agreed to take appropriate measures to increase the volume of two way trade and investment and foster much closer economic ties between our two countries.

We welcome the kind invitation by President Nguema for South Africa to invest in the energy, mineral resources, transportation, agriculture and communications sectors in Equatorial Guinea.

In this regard, South African state-owned enterprises as well as the private sector will engage in mutually beneficial partnerships and commercial ventures with their counterparts in Equatorial Guinea.

In order to give effect to our intentions to deepen and intensify our bilateral cooperation, we have agreed that the Joint Co-operation Commission (JCC), headed by our Ministers responsible for International Relations should be launched as matter of urgency.

The JCC will act as an invaluable instrument for the management and coordination of our bilateral cooperation.

As you are aware, Equatorial Guinea will be co-hosting together with Gabon, the Africa Cup of Nations in 2012. South Africa, having had the honour to host the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2010 World Cup will use its expertise to help Equatorial Guinea co-host a successful Africa Cup of Nations.

Ladies and gentlemen, President Nguema and I also used the occasion of our meeting to discuss recent developments in Africa, in particular, the demise of the former Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in Sirte yesterday.

Consistent with the position of the African Union (AU), we wish to reiterate our view that a lasting and sustainable peaceful solution is possible only through an all inclusive political process that will culminate in the holding of the first ever democratic elections in accordance with the roadmap as announced by the National Transitional Council (NTC) of Libya.

We sincerely hope that the latest events will lead to a cessation of hostilities and the restoration of peace. We urge the NTC to begin in earnest the process of building national unity and reconciliation as well as the disarmament of all combatants and their reintegration into society.

As members of the AU, we remain committed to work with the United Nations, the League of Arab States and the Organization of Islamic Conference to ensure coordinated support to the NTC and the Libyan people in general in their endeavours to reconstruct their country and to bring about democratic, political and socio-economic changes.

I thank you for your attention.