MOSCOW, September 1 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian foreign minister will on Monday meet with his South African counterpart to discuss bilateral and international issues, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman has said.
The talks between Sergei Lavrov and South African International Relations Minister Maite Emily Nkoana-Mashabane, who will be in Moscow on a working visit, will focus on increasing bilateral trade and boosting investment cooperation, ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
South Africa is one of Russia’s leading foreign trade partners in Sub-Saharan Africa. Bilateral trade in 2012 rose 66.3% to $964 million.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in March 2013 after a meeting with his South African counterpart Jacob Zuma that the two countries planned to keep increasing trade.
Updates with details in graf 2.
