South Africa and Botswana are set to deepen economic cooperation when President Jacob Zuma and his Botswana counterpart, Lieutenant General Seretse Khama Ian Khama, meet in Pretoria on Friday for the 3rd Session of the Botswana-South Africa Bi-National Commission (BNC).

The South African Presidency said in a statement on Thursday that the two countries already cooperated in a variety of areas, including transport, trade and investment, health, education, environmental issues, water, science and technology, agriculture, justice, immigration, energy, finance, culture, security and sport.

South Africa remains one of the major trading partners of Botswana. In 2015, South Africa’s total bilateral trade with Botswana stood at R57.97 billion.

“There is a large presence of South African companies in Botswana which are involved in various sectors such as housing, food and beverages, construction, retail, hotels and leisure, banking, medical services, etc,” the Presidency said. “These companies continue to contribute to the growth and development of the Botswana economy.”

The South African delegation to the BNC is set to include Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Naledi Pandor, Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Rob Davies, Minister of Trade and Industry, the Minister of Energy, Tina Joemat-Pettersson, Dipuo Peters, Minister of Transport, Nomvula Mokonyane, the Minister of Water and Sanitation, and Senzeni Zokwana, the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

The BNC meeting is set to take place at the Sefako M Makgatho Presidential Guesthouse in Pretoria.