South African Development Community Says Seeks To Enhance Ties With Russia

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) seeks to intensify and deepen cooperation with Russia, SADC Executive Secretary Stergomena Tax said on Tuesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd October, 2018) The Southern African Development Community (SADC) seeks to intensify and deepen cooperation with Russia, SADC Executive Secretary Stergomena Tax said on Tuesday.

"Allow me to applaud the cordial relations that exist between SADC and Russia ... We have now solidified our understanding through memorandums of understanding, and we thank you very much for that. We also need to understand that the relationship between the SADC region and Russia is not new, it is historic. What we need to do is to capitalize on what we built over the years and maybe revive, and make it more visible, and more vigilant as we move forward," Tax said during a plenary session at the SADC Investment Forum in Moscow.

She noted that one of the memorandums of understanding between SADC and Russia was set to be signed later in the day.

"One of them is going to be signed today.

[It concerns] basic principles of relations and cooperation covering a number of areas in the social field, but also in the political field ... The signature of this deal marks another giant step in strengthening cooperation between SADC and the Russian Federation," Tax said.

She added that another agreement which covered defense industry cooperation between the organization and Russia was concluded in July. Tax stressed that the different areas of cooperation inked in the memoranda demonstrated diverse fronts the sides cooperated on, including business, political and security fields.

The organization was established in 1980 as the Southern African Development Coordination Conference, and transformed into SADC in 1992. It currently comprises 16 states and aims to promote socio-economic, political and security cooperation in the region.