Pretoria: South Africa and Cyprus have strengthened relations during a bilateral meeting on Friday. International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana Mashabane paid a working visit to Cyprus on Friday.

According to the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, the visit was at the invitation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cyprus, Dr Erato Kozakou-Markoullis. During their bilateral meeting, the two ministers reviewed the scope of relations between South Africa and Cyprus and identify possible further areas of cooperation in order to deepen and strengthen bilateral relations.

The ministers also used the opportunity to brief each other on regional developments and discuss international multilateral issues of mutual interest. During the visit, two agreements were signed – the Memorandum of Understanding on Bilateral Political Consultations, and the Protocol to the Agreement on the Avoidance of Double Taxation and Fiscal Evasion.

This was the first visit by the South African Government Minister to Cyprus. Minister Nkoana Mashabane used the occasion to express the South African government’s support for a solution to the long-standing division of Cyprus.