South Africa hopes Asia-Africa summit will boost economic ties

South Africa hopes Asia-Africa summit will boost economic ties

Agence France-Presse, Cape Town, South Africa

South Africa hopes that the world's poorest continent will emerge with stronger economic ties with Asia after a summit in Indonesia next week, Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad said on Thursday.

"It is expected that this conference will launch the new Africa-Asia strategic initiative," Pahad told a news conference in Cape Town.

"Following a meeting in South Africa last year, major programs were identified for Asian-African cooperation, especially economic cooperation, cultural cooperation, but mainly economic cooperation, and that is why it's called a strategic new initiative for Africa and Asia," he said.

South African President Thabo Mbeki is due to leave on Saturday for the Middle East and ultimately travel on to Indonesia for the summit. Over 50 heads of state are expected to converge on Jakarta and the nearby city of Bandung from April 22 to 24 for the gathering and golden jubilee celebrations of the 1955 Asia-Africa Conference.

Pahad said the South-South cooperation was "vital in this globalized world," adding that the summit "will give major leaders of Africa and Asia an opportunity to exchange views and see whether we can begin the process of getting a ... consensus on many issues, including the (UN) secretary general's new report and his proposals on restructuring" the world body.

India, Brazil and South Africa -- three main democracies of the developing world -- have set up a grouping to cooperate on trade and political issues and are considering establishing an ambitious South-South economic trade bloc with a market of 1.2 billion people.