DIRCO Annual Report

Bilateral relations In the last financial year, virtual meetings were held between President Ramaphosa and Prime Minister Andrew Holness of Jamaica; Minister Pandor and her Mexican and Peruvian counterparts; and Deputy Minister Alvin Botes and his Mexican counterpart with the aim of reviewing and strengthening bilateral relations, more especially during this pandemic the world is faced with. Minister Pandor and Minister Kamina Johnson-Smith of Jamaica engaged in a telephone discussion in February 2021 regarding the possibility that Jamaica could obtain the AstraZeneca vaccines that South Africa was not going to utilised. In a letter, dated 16 February 2021, Minister Pandor advised Minister Johnson-Smith to engage the African Union (AU) COVID Medicines Platform under the African Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (AU CDC). Jamaica, in the meantime, received a shipment of 75 000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines, which arrived in Jamaica on 8 April 2021 from the AU COVID Medicines Platform. The Jamaican Government has formally thanked South Africa for its support in this process in a letter from the Jamaican Foreign Minister.

Cuban engineers and advisers provided technical assistance to various municipalities in provinces such as the Eastern Cape, Free State, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the North West. Cuban Mathematics teachers provided technical support to South African teachers in

Mathematics and Science in various provinces. Economic transformation and job creation

In the Latin American and Caribbean region, South Africa continues to build on the existing solid relations with the region to explore further opportunities for development, particularly on cooperation in education, defence, science and technology, agriculture, justice, health services, human rights, infrastructure development, housing, water and sanitation and oceanic research. The South Africa-Cuba Agreement on Economic Assistance further enhanced economic collaboration with Cuba through increased exports of South African goods and through establishing channels for payment, which will result in improved future bilateral trade relations. The loan part of the agreement – Tranche B of Facility C - is still being implemented. The availability of the loan of R140 million was extended until July 2021 through a formal legal process. As South African goods are bought under the loan agreement, it contributes towards the South African economy and job creation.

Annual Report 2020/2021 I Vote No. 6

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