MIDDLE EAST WORKSHOP ORGANISED BY FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs

Consistent with the Department of Foreign Affairs' commitment to engaging civil society in the formulation of foreign policy, a one-day workshop focusing on "The Middle East and South Africa: A framework for understanding" was held at the Union Buildings in Pretoria today.

The workshop, which brought together a wide range of academics, politicians, businesspeople, NGO and media representatives, focussed on the need to broaden South Africa's foreign policy perspectives in the Middle East. In his opening address this morning, Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad emphasised that South Africa needed to significantly improve its capacity to make a constructive contribution to the debate on the Middle East, which was severely hampered by years of isolation.

To this end, discussions examined ways of, inter alia, improving South Africa's understanding on: the endemic factors threatening peace in the region; the implications of rising political and religious radicalism; the politics of selling arms to the region; South Africa's attitude to Human Rights and the promotion of democracy; economic prospects for South Africa as well as South Africa's position in the Middle East Peace Process.

The Middle East is inevitably an area of international significance and focus for several reasons:

• It occupies a unique geopolitical position at the tri-continental hub of Europe, Asia ad Africa;
• It is the home of 241,5 million people;
• It is the source of 67% of the world's petroleum reserves;
• It commands two of the most strategically important water ways in the world, namely, the Arabian/Persian Gulf and the Red Sea.
• It is a source of some of the most persistent and explosive international problems since World War II.

These exchanges with civil society were therefore designed to provide an opportunity to explore, explain and refine some foreign policy approaches pertaining to the region.

This workshop was held on the eve of a visit to the region next week by Deputy Pahad, who will lead a delegation to Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emerates to further promote relations with this region.

ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS PRETORIA 21 APRIL 1997