APA-Pretoria (South Africa) South Africa and Finland have agreed to strengthen cooperation in water resources management, education, peace building and digital technologies, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Tuesday.
Speaking after meeting his visiting Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinistö in Pretoria, Ramaphosa said they have agreed “to see the bilateral relationship thrive and improve, especially with regards to reciprocal trade and investment.”
“We have agreed to expand Finnish-South African cooperation in the following fields: water resource management; early childhood development as well as out-of-school youth and adult education; the training of youth as peace mediators; (and) digital and emerging technologies,” Ramaphosa told journalists.
He announced that South Africa has also agreed to a proposal to host the regional hub for a joint European Union (EU)-African Union (AU) programme that aims to develop a vibrant data economy in Africa.
“We have agreed to the proposal of EU member states that the EU-AU Data Flagship Programme’s regional hub should be in South Africa,” Ramaphosa said.
The programme seeks to facilitate investment in Africa’s data infrastructure and data technologies that can contribute to the digital transformation of the continent.
Ramaphosa and Niinistö were later Tuesday expected to attend a South Africa-Finland business forum that would focus on how to improve trade and investment flows between the two countries.
After South Africa, Niinistö was expected to visit neighbouring Namibia.
JN/APA