South Sudan’s minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation, Mayiik Ayii, and his Saudi counterpart, Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud on Monday signed a general cooperation agreement between the two countries Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Minister Ayii said the agreement focuses on investment and economic areas such as Industry, petroleum, minerals, agriculture, livestock, tourism, sports, and the health sector.
“This General Cooperation Agreement between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Republic of South Sudan will now allow us to fully engage with a lot of institutions especially in the economic sector here in Saudi Arabia,” Minister Ayii said. “They want to come and invest in the Republic of South Sudan, especially in the fields of agriculture, infrastructure among others.
He said committees will be formed to expedite trade and the implementation of the agreement.
“We are now going to form joint technical committees between the two countries to work on the issues of trade. The Saudi minister of foreign affairs told me that they are very interested in investing in South Sudan in all areas especially agriculture, infrastructure, technology, and education,” Ayii added.
He stressed that both countries are ready to execute the agreement expeditiously.
“In the next couple of days, we are going to be meeting a lot of these agencies and ministries and we will hear what they would like to do,” Minister Ayii said. “The lack of this agreement was preventing them (Saudis) from entering the South Sudan market. Now both sides are ready.”
The foreign minister added that the agreement will encourage the exchange of knowledge and technical expertise as well as promotion of investment, trade fairs and exhibitions, and exchange visits between the two countries.