1. His Excellency Dr Bakili Muluzi, President of the Republic of Malawi and Mrs Muluzi, paid a state visit to the Republic of South Africa from Tuesday 2 to Thursday 4 June 1998, at the invitation of His Excellency President Nelson Mandela, President of the Republic of South Africa.
2. President Muluzi was accompanied by the Malawian Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Commerce and Industry, Transport and of Lands, Housing, Physical Planning and Surveys as well as a business delegation comprising private and public sector interests.
3. While in South Africa, President Muluzi fulfilled a number of engagements including bilateral discussions and consultations with the Chamber of Mines, and the South African Chamber of Business, in Cape Town and Johannesburg.
4. During the bilateral discussions the two delegations agreed that: (a) President Muluzi's State visit was very important for the future of bilateral relations and cooperation between the two countries which were democratised at almost the same time in 1994. The visit enabled the two delegations to discuss wide ranging issues and forge a sound working relationship.
(b) Democracy and development go hand in hand and that Malawi and South Africa established the necessary foundations for furthering both. Malawi and South Africa should establish structural mechanisms to consolidate and expand the already esisting cooperation.
(c) Malawi and South Africa have not fully exploited each other's potential to the full and in this respect should increase trade and encourage investments in each other's territories for the mutual benefit of the people of the two countries.
(d) South Africa has a relatively larger capacity in research, science and technology. It should therefore economically assist countries, in the region like Malawi, in technology transfer, research, human resource development and capacity building.
(e) The ideals of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) were reaffirmed, and both countries agreed to contribute fully to the organisation. It was particularly stressed that SADC should be used as a platform for improving the region's transport corridors such as Nacala, Beira and Maputo, amongst others.
(f) Multilateral cooperation should be intensified in Africa in order to achieve more regional development consistent with the ideals of the African Economic Community under the Lagos Plan of Acton; and that South -South cooperation should be consolidated for more socioeconomic development in the developing countries.
(g) The Malawi Government requested the South African Government to increase the involvement of its parastatals such as the Southern African Development Bank and the private sector in the development of Malawi.
(h) Globalisation poses many opportunities, challenges and dangers. The recent Asian crisis is one manifestation of the negative consequences of unbridled globalisation and highlights the need for developing countries to cooperate more fully to ensure that the negative consequences of globalisation can be minimised.
(i) An overview of the recent NAM preparatory meeting in Cartagena, Columbia was provided. South Africa as incoming chair would like to see Africa and development issues feature on the Agenda at the forthcoming NAM summit to be held in Durban.
(j) Officials and private sector players of both countries were urged to set appropriate follow-up mechanisms for the implementation of these understandings.
(5) His Excellency President Muluzi and His Excellency President Mandela re-affirmed Malawi's and SOuth Africa's resolve and willingness to work together closely in bilateral and multilateral matters, especially in the context of SADC, the Non-Aligned Movement, the OAU and the UN, amongst others; and reaffirmed their commitment to participate fully in the "African Renaissance."
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS PRETORIA 3 JUNE 1998