The foreign affairs minister of Saudi Arabia, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, on Monday visited Juba for a one-day working visit.
South Sudan’s Foreign Minister Mayiik Ayii Deng who received his Saudi counterpart told the press that Prince Farhan was the highest-ranking Saudi official to visit South Sudan since independence and that the government was happy to receive him.
“The historic visit of Faisal bin Farhan to Juba comes at the genesis of a new cold war destabilizing the world. The Republic of South Sudan, along with other African countries, find themselves in a similar position to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that is needed to serve as a balancing force in the present of polarity,” Minister Ayii said. “Building relationships with other neutral countries not only allows for sustained peace and security within our region and advancement of our economy but also collective resistance against polarizing forces which threaten the fabric of global security.”
Ayii said South Sudan and Saudi Arabia remain close through historical, geographical, cultural, political, and economic relations.
For his part, Prince Farhan said they explored avenues to strengthen bilateral relations and deepen collaborations in investment, trade, energy, and security among others.
“We expressed the hope that the general cooperation agreement that was signed early this year will catalyze to deepen the engagement,” he said, adding. “We agreed that we will continue to engage not only at the ministerial level but also at the working level to identify specific areas of cooperation and investment that can benefit both of our countries and we will work together under the leadership of both countries to achieve real progress in that regard.”
“We discussed the partnership between our two countries and we exchanged views on matters about regional and international peace and security,” Farhan added.
Earlier this year, South Sudan and Saudi Arabia signed a cooperation agreement on trade.